Depressing data from Hungarian retail sector

Retail sales growth stalled in January, after showing signs of recovery in December 2023. Consumer confidence seems to be slowly rebuilding in Hungary, despite the fact that the minimum wage and the guaranteed minimum wage were already increased in December, meaning that the increased amounts were received by those affected at the beginning of January.

Domestic retail sales were unchanged in January compared to the previous month. This means that the 1.4% increase we saw in December, also on a monthly basis, was only a one-off spike for now, Portfolio reports.

Retail sales in Hungary edged up by an annual 0.6% in January. However, for the time being, the annual index is boosted by the base effect, i.e. the fact that the benchmark will be a smaller and smaller number due to the steady contraction in retail sales over the past year.

This means that retail trade is still not back to pre-pandemic levels, and was nowhere near them in January.

Adjusted food sales edged up by 0.2%, while non-food sales slipped by 0.9%. Vehicle fuel sales were 4.6% higher.

Ministry comments on retail data

A detailed breakdown of the data shows adjusted retail sales rose at supermarkets, drugstores and pharmacies, petrol stations and webshops, but fell at other shops.

Retail sales were flat in a month-on-month comparison.

In absolute terms, retail sales came to HUF 1,356 billion (EUR 3.4 billion) in January. Food sales accounted for 49% of the total, non-food sales for 35% and sales at petrol stations for 16% .

Commenting on the fresh data, the National Economy Ministry said it indicated that retail sales had passed the low point and were “in the recovery phase”.

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