The pace slowed from September when both the unadjusted and the calendar-adjusted figure was 5.1 percent. The unadjusted growth rate in August was as high as 5.8 percent.

Adjusted food sales were up by 1.5 percent in October, non-food sales climbed 4.6 percent and fuel sales increased by 1.2 percent. The increases slowed from the previous month in all three categories. In January-October 2016 retail sales saw an unadjusted rise of 4.8 percent.

Adjusted figures show retail sales rising by 4.7 percent, food sales by 2.7 percent, non-food sales by 7.2 percent and fuel sales by 5.3 percent in the first ten months of the year. KSH will publish a second reading of the October data on December 16.

Péter Virovácz of ING Bank said the October retail sales data, as the first indicator of fourth quarter economic performance is unfavourable and based on this it is possible that economic growth has indeed slowed down for the last three months of the year.

Takarékbank analyst András Oszlay said retail sales at Christmas could pick up and be higher than last year during the same period, this way an economic growth around 2 percent of GDP is still realistic.

Erste Bank chief analyst Gergely Urmossy said that despite a setback in retail sales growth in October he is not changing his opinion that personal consumption will remain the driving force behind GDP growth both in the fourth quarter of 2016 and next year.

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