Retail sales of clothing, newspapers, books, and fuels fell by 4-5 percent m/m in October – Sonia Buchholtz, an expert of Confederation Lewiatan, wrote in Monday's analysis, referring to Central Statistical Office (GUS) data.
The GUS announced on Monday that retail sales in constant prices in October 2020 fell by 2.3 percent in annual terms, and in monthly terms, it increased by 2.1 percent. Retail sales in current prices fell by 2.1 percent y/y last month.
As noted by Sonia Buchholtz, after analyzing individual product categories, in the annual perspective, the increase in retail sales concerned only furniture and RTV-household equipment (11.9 percent y/y, 6.5 percent m/m) and pharmaceuticals (1.3 percent y/y, 5.3 percent m/m).
"In the monthly perspective, apart from furniture and medicines, the sales of food, beverages and tobacco products increased by 4.9 percent, while motor vehicles and their parts by 2.4 percent. Other categories, including clothing, the press, books, and fuels record declines of 4-5 percent m/m. In the case of fuels, we see an effect related to the decline in consumer demand and lower fuel prices on world markets," she noted in the commentary.
According to the economist, the October sales results are the result of deteriorating consumer moods due to the difficult epidemic situation, the expected negative economic effects of the pandemic, and the need to prepare for the second lockdown.
(PAP)