Consumption in December soars 4.8 pct, highest increase in 8 years

Retail sales in Croatia in December 2015 grew by 4.8% on the year, which is the highest increase of consumption in more than 8 years and the 17th month in a row to see a consumption increase.

The national statistical office on Wednesday released its preliminary estimate showing that according to working-day adjusted statistics, retail sales in December last year grew 3.8% in nominal terms and 4.8% in real terms from the same month of 2014.
 
The growth rate is much faster than the month before when consumption grew 3.2% on the year and the highest increase of retail sales since September 2007 when it jumped up 7.2%.
 
The growth rate is also much higher than expected.
 
Four economic analysts polled by Hina had forecast that consumption would increase by 2.9% on the average, and their estimates ranged from 2.4% to 3.5%. 
 
A streak of 17 straight months with increasing consumption has not been recorded since 2007, two year before the six-year-long recession started.

 

(Text: Hina)



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