A week before Christmas, the trade draws a rather sobering balance. Because of the high inflation rate, Austrians want to spend significantly less than in the previous year. On average, they want to spend 395 euros on gifts, 15 percent less than in the previous year and also less than before the corona crisis in 2019.
Christmas business, defined as additional sales in December that are above the average for the months of January to November, will nominally amount to 1.36 billion euros this year. In real terms, i.e. minus inflation, it should be 924 million euros, according to calculations by Wifo. That would be a nominal increase of 8.4 percent, price-adjusted a decrease of 0.8 percent.
“Under the given framework conditions of high inflation and the war in Ukraine, the only slight real decline compared to the previous year can be seen as a success,” said Wifo economist Marcus Scheibl-Ecker at a press conference together with Rainer Will, managing director of the trade association.
- ZIB 1: The Christmas business is the most important business of the year for retailers.
In the ranking of the most popular gifts this year, vouchers are in first place, followed by clothing, toys, books and sweets. However, vouchers only have an effect on sales in retail when they are redeemed by the customer. If this only happens in January, this turnover does not count towards the Christmas business.
For the year as a whole, Wifo estimates sales in stationary Austrian retail at 72.5 billion euros, which would be a nominal increase of around six percent compared to 2021. Adjusted for inflation, however, this would result in a minus of one percent.
Trade Association Managing Director Will pointed to the tense situation in domestic trade. 39 percent of the companies will make a loss this year, 38 percent expect at most a balanced result. “By the end of the year, the trade will have around 900 bankruptcies and 6,000 business closures,” said Will. (hn)
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Editor Economics
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