South-west dynamic, north-east slowing down

Among local regions, retail sales show the most dynamic expansion in the south-west, according to data from Nielsen. In the north-east, no expansion has taken place in terms of value, while sales have dropped by 9 percent in terms of quantity. The overall Hungarian growth rate for the food market is down to 7 percent from the previously measured 10 percent. Growth rates for cheese, chocolate, fruit yoghurts, sweet biscuit, pasta, tablet chocolate, praline and margarine were higher than 7 percent in the December 2007- November 2008 period. Sales of processed meat, the leading category were up by 11 percent in terms of value in the south-west region and by 7 percent in Budapest, and down by 5 percent in north-east region. In terms of quantity, overall food sales had been up by 5 percent in 2007, in the categories monitored by Nielsen, but dropped by 4 percent in 2008. For example, there are great regional differences in sales of cheese between regions, with a drop of 3 percent in the south-west and that of 12 percent in the north-east. In the Budapest region, palinka and praline produced expansion of 10 percent, tablet chocolate and fruit yoghurt produced 9 percent, with sweet biscuits producing 8 percent. In the south-west, 16 out of the 30 biggest categories produced growth of over 4 percent.