Textiles, clothing & footwear stores sales go up

28 Jul '08

2 min read

Hungarian Central Statistical Office released the retail trade sales for May 2008. According to calendar adjusted data, the volume of retail sales decreased by 1.6% in May, and by 2.4% in the first five months of 2008 compared to prior-year levels. Compared to the previous month, the volume of retail sales decreased by 0.2% according to seasonally and calendar adjusted data.

In May, the domestic retail turnover (including retail sale via mail order houses) approached HUF 515 billion, while for the first five months of 2008 it was HUF 2400 billion. In the first five months of 2008, specialized and non-specialized food, beverages and tobacco stores had a share of 53 percent in sales; the turnover structure has been reflecting this shift for years.

According to calendar adjusted data, the volume of retail sales in specialized and nonspecialized food, beverages and tobacco stores decreased by 1.7% in the first five months of 2008 and by 1.3% in May compared to the same period of the previous year. Sales volumes for non-specialized stores (hyper-, supermarkets, groceries) – having a major, 91 per cent market share – declined by 1.4% and sales for specialized food, beverages and tobacco stores increased by 0.2%.

According to calendar adjusted data, non-food retail trade turnover – at constant prices – was down by 3.0% in the first four months and by 1.9 percent in May compared to the same period of the previous year. In May, sales volume for pharmaceutical and medical goods, cosmetics and toilet articles shops as well as sales in textiles, clothing, footwear stores increased while sales declined in nearly all activity groups, especially in shops for furniture and household goods.

In May, non-food retail sales at constant prices – according to seasonally and calendar adjusted data – rose by 0.1 percent compared to the previous month.

According to a Eurostat first estimate, in May 2008, the calendar adjusted retail sales volume for the 27 member states of the European Union increased by 2.0%, and for the eurozone countries by 0.2% compared to the same month of the previous year. The highest increases were observed in the United Kingdom and Lithuania, and the largest decreases were in Spain, Latvia and Estonia.

Hungarian Central Statistical Office