The fall of consumption in supermarkets and self-services slowed down in May, but failed to break the double-digit barrier, falling to 10% year-on-year, compared to the 13.8% recorded in April, according to the survey prepared by the consulting firm Scentia.
The decrease in the fifth month of the year was 10.5% in supermarket chains and 9.5% in self-service stores. In this way, the general accumulated contraction in the first five months of the year is around 8%.
Falling consumption: which is the worst performing category
The category most affected by the new collapse in consumption is that of perishable food, which had a decrease of 20.5% year-on-year. He was followed closely by drinks, which had a decrease of 19.1% year-on-year in their variant with alcohol, while those without alcohol collapsed by 18.3%.
While hygiene and cosmetic, cleaning and impulsive products, among which are candies, They recorded a decrease in sales of between 12% and 14%. What fell the least were breakfast and snack foods (-6.5%) and the food category in general (-1.2%), which includes the most basic products.
Consumption: how it behaved according to the region
The supermarkets they had in May the same negative performance in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area (AMBA) and in the interior of the country, with a decrease of around 10%. While in the case of warehouses, the scenario was noticeably worse in the interior, with a decrease of 16.3% year-on-year, when in the AMBA there was an increase of 5.6% compared to the same month last year.
The critical situation of warehouses comes from drag, since last year they had a drop of 12% for this same time, while for supermarkets the scenario was different, registering a rise of 7.8% in May 2023.
Now the recession does not discriminate and, although to a different extent, the impact is felt in all businesses. Despite the decrease in inflation in recent months, consumption is not recovering due to the loss of purchasing power linked to the ground lost in salaries, which even with the various joint agreements have not been able to recover.
In this sense, during the last month, Food prices slowed down compared to April, falling from 6% to 4.8%, while those of alcoholic beverages and tobacco rose 6.7%, according to INDEC. Both categories were above the general CPI, which was 4.2%.
Source: Ambito
