First drop in retail over the last 4 years

In February, retail sales saw their first drop in the last four years, particularly on the segment of food products, according to data published by the National Statistics Institute on Tuesday. Retail sales fell by 4.8% overall compared with February 2006 and by 8.9% in case of food products, the first drop in the annual consumption of goods since April 2003. The decline is all the more surprising considering that last year’s retail sales increased by an average 24% in real terms (above the inflation level). Even in January this year retail saw a 23% increase against January 2006, as part of the general trend witnessed in the last two years, which did not anticipate the steep drop in February. Sorin Minea, chairman of Romalimenta (The Romanian Food Industry Owners’ Federation) believes the drop is merely statistical and is due to the fact that a part of the consumption has shifted towards the black market. “Consumption remains the same, it cannot drop or rise spectacularly. Since the consumption level doesn’t change, the black market must be to blame for the drop in retail trade (…),” he stated.