Published on: 9.2.2010 | 11:24
Last update on: 9.2.2010 | 11:56

PERSONAL CONSUMPTION

Analysts: Retail sales drops 14.3% in December

Author/source: SEEbiz
ZAGREB - Downtrend in personal consumption and a rise in unemployment are crucial problems of Croatian economy at the moment, and analysts estimate consumption dropped over 14% y/y in December.

Consumption has been declining for 14 months straight and in November it accelerated to 15.8% from October 15.4%.

Prior to the official report due today, six analysts interviewed by Hina forecast between 10% and 15.5% drop in retail sales, which is an average of 14.3%.

Although consumption usually reaches its peak in December, comprising for over 20% of the total annual spending, it would be unrealistic to expect significant improvement from a year earlier due to further rise in unemployment, credit crunch and drop in average salaries.

Considering all mentioned, it is unlikely that retail sales will recovery in the near future, especially with the announced increase in energy prices.
 

 

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