Adjusted food sales were up by 4.4% in May, non-food sales climbed by 6.8% and fuel sales increased by 9.0%. In absolute terms, retail sales came to 781.9 billion forints (EUR 2.5bn) in May. In the non-food segment, sales of clothing retailers rose by 14% in May compared to the same period last year.

Sales of second-hand goods dropped by 5.8%. Sales at chemists were up by 6.6%. Sales of book and computer shops combined rose by 3.0%. Sales were up by 6.4% at furniture shops.

Retail sales of vehicles and spare parts sales, which are not part of European retail trade statistics, increased by 16%. In a seasonally and calendaradjusted monthly comparison, retails sales were up by 0.1% in May, with food sales edging up by 0.4% and non-food sales down by 1.2% a month.

January-May retail sales rose by an annual unadjusted 5.2% and an adjusted 5.1%, slightly slower than the respective full-year increases of 5.7% and 5.8% in 2015. Adjusted food sales climbed by 2.7%, non-food sales rose by 7.9% and fuel sales were up by 6.2%.

Hungary’s retail sales have been growing continuously for 35 months and monthly turnover growth is expected to remain substantial this year due to growing employment, dynamic wage growth, low inflation and a personal income tax cut, the economy ministry said, commenting on the data.

The ministry said turnover growth well exceeded the European Union average of 2.8% during the period reported by KSH.

Compared to the dynamic increase in households’ income, retail sales growth is moderate, suggesting that the willingness of households to make savings remains quite high.

This also indicates that private consumption is expected to grow further as households still have substantial room to manoeuvre for making purchases put off earlier, they added.

Republished with permission of Hungary Matters, MTI’s daily newsletter.