Image: (APA/GEORG HOCHMUTH)
“The high inflation is consuming growth in retail,” said Statistics Austria General Director Tobias Thomas on Wednesday, according to the statement. “As of the second quarter of 2022, inflation is consistently ensuring that real sales are in the negative range,” said Thomas. According to preliminary data from Statistics Austria, the retail trade in food, beverages and tobacco products generated an increase in sales of 8.3 percent in the third quarter of 2023 compared to the previous year. Adjusted for inflation, sales fell by 0.4 percent. Compared to the third quarter of the previous year, trade in non-food products fell both in nominal terms (−2.0 percent) and in real terms (price-adjusted, −6.8 percent). The statistics also include gas stations, but not motor vehicle dealers.
- Also read: Supermarket profit margins increased “not systematically”.
In the period from January to September 2023, the retail sector recorded a nominal increase in sales of 3.7 percent compared to the same period last year; in real terms (price-adjusted), this amounts to a decrease of 3.5 percent. The retail trade in food, beverages and tobacco products generated a sales increase of 9.5 percent in the first nine months of this year compared to the same period in 2022. In real terms, this corresponds to a minus of 0.9 percent. The non-food trade recorded an increase in sales of 0.5 percent from January to September 2023 compared to the corresponding period of the previous year; in real terms, this is a decrease of 5.8 percent.
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