Last December, the turnover generated by the retail sector in the country and by retail sale of mail order houses or via Internet amounted to about HUF 1,250 billion breaking all former monthly records. The annual total of retail sale broke another record with its amount of nearly HUF 12,250 billon.

According to the latest data released by the Central Statistical Office of Hungary, last year, retail sale exceeded the December 2018 indicator by 6.7 percent and calendar adjusted data show a 6.1 percent increase, meaning that retail sale has been growing for 78 months, i.e. six and a half years straight. For the whole of 2019, exactly 6 percent increase can be observed compared to the 2018 data.

A good illustration of the past year’s outstanding performance is that the monthly sales data surpassed HUF 1000 billion in every month starting from April as opposed to one month and two months in 2017 and 2018, respectively. 2019 was the first year when the annual indicator exceeded HUF 10 thousand billion even without the fuel sales. Retail sale of mail order houses or via internet continued to grow, reaching an annual sales value of almost HUF 730 billion representing a sixteen-times increase compared to the beginning of the previous decade.

Péter Cseresnyés, State Secretary for Trade Policy and Consumer Protection of the Ministry for Innovation and Technology said: “The spectacular growth of retail sales is one of the key indicators of the improving quality of life and better economic opportunities of Hungarian families. The Government seeks to increase the share of Hungarian-owned retail units and Hungarian products in the continuously growing consumption.”

Compared to January 2010, retail sales have improved by more than 43 percent in Hungary which brings the country to occupy a top position in the region and is nearly three times higher than the average performance improvement of the European Union. The lasting rise in domestic consumption is mainly due to the wage increases, tax reductions, and targeted government measures in support of families. Through the increase in employment and in wages, retail sale is also expected to grow further.

(MTI)