ZAGREB, May 7, 2018 - Retail sales in Croatia in March increased by 2.1% on the year, continuing a growth streak of 43 months and at an accelerated pace compared to February.
The State Bureau of Statistics (DZS) on Monday released its report on retail trade turnover and, according to working-day adjusted data, retail sales in March increased by 2.5% on the month and recorded an increase of 2.1% on the year.
That is a somewhat accelerated growth compared to February when consumption grew by 1.2% year-on-year, but this is still slower than had been expected.
Participating in a Hina survey, three economic analysts on average forecast a growth in consumption of 2.3% with their estimates ranging from 0.5% to 3.8%.
The growth in March once again set records, considering that the last year-on-year fall was recorded in August 2014. A 43-month streak of growth in consumption hasn't been recorded since the DZS started keeping records of consumption indicators.
In March, consumption of food, beverages and tobacco products increased by 3.8% year-on-year while consumption of non-food products increased by 2.8%.
January - March retail increased by 3.1% compared to the same period last year.
