Retail turnover has been increasing continuously for thirteen months, in March it rose by 14.5% year-on-year

Retail turnover maintained a double-digit year-on-year growth for the third consecutive month, with seven out of nine components growing. The overall result was driven by the current high growths of these retail components, which decreased last year during the longest pandemic lockdown. On the contrary, the turnover of mail order or sale of PC and ICT technology for which the pandemic was a great opportunity, was currently decreasing.

In March 2022, retail turnover maintained its highest year-on-year growth rate, at 14.5%. However, this value was slightly lower than the growth rate during February or January this year. Nominal turnover volumes were higher by 20% than before the pandemic (in March 2019), but their real growth was significantly hampered by inflation.

Year-on-year, turnover increased in seven out of the nine retail components, and in five of them it rose even at a double-digit rate. However, the growths are influenced by the fact that the turnover of selected trade components a year ago was decimated to varying degrees by the measures of the second wave of the pandemic. The most significant turnover in non-specialized stores (hyper – and supermarkets) reached a year-on-year turnover growth by 3.6% in March. In the second most significant components - in specialized stores, e.g. with footwear, textiles, drugstores –turnover increased by up to 44.6%.

A high year-on-year growth at the level of 37% was reached also by the less significant components of retail trade, e.g. shops with cultural or recreation goods, including for example shops with book, sports equipment, toys etc. as well as hobbymarkets (including furniture and consumer electronics stores. Gas stations achieved higher turnover (by 13.9%), but their growth rate is significantly slower than the growth of fuel prices.

On the contrary, the year-on-year drop of up to 5% was reflected in those retail components that were able to significantly increase turnover during the pandemics, namely mail order sales (including sales outside stores) and sales of PC and ICT equipment.

Year-on-year development of other trade components in March 2022

In March 2022, turnover of sale and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles increased by 8.1% year-on-year, mainly due to the turnover growth of motor vehicles sales. In wholesale, turnover was higher by one-fifth during the third month (by 21.7% at current prices).

In food and beverage service activities, the turnover in March doubled (growth by 118.8%). Current values were also by one-fifth higher in nominal terms than before the pandemic (in March 2019). At the same time, in the third consecutive month, turnover in sales reached four times the year before, which is a consequence of last year's complete lockdown. However, the accommodation providers have still not been able to reach the nominal values of turnover from March 2019, and taking into account inflation, the real value of turnover lags even more significantly behind the reality achieved in the pre-pandemic period.

Month-on-month development in March 2022 compared with February 2022

Compared to the previous month¹⁾ (February 2022), turnover in March 2022 increased in all components of internal trade, most notably in food and beverage service activities by 30.7% and in accommodation by 29.6%, and in wholesale by 5.6%, in retail trade by 3.8% and by 2.2% in sale and repair of motor vehicles.

Overall development for 3 months of 2022

In summary for the entire first quarter (for the first three months of 2022) turnover achieved at least double-digit year-on-year growth in all components of internal trade, most notably in food and beverage service activities by 64.2%, in wholesale by 23.4%, in retail trade by 16% as well as in sale and repair of motor vehicles by 11.9%. The exception was accommodation, with a quadruple growth, which is catching up with the outages of the last year´s complete lockdown.