‘It is ending precisely now…’ (Part 1)

‘…so I let it go!’ Tibi Kiss, the lead singer of Quimby probably referred to something else, but we thought it would fit the new, 6-part series by Trade magazin and GfK Hungária Market Research Institute.

As for the title: we at GfK hope that the crisis is now coming to an end. But first, let us examine last year’s trends. In 2009, food product prices grew below the level of inflation, by 4.2 percent – this year we expect a 4.1-percent rise in food prices. Alcoholic beverage and tobacco product prices were up by more than 10 percent. Household energy prices augmented by nearly 20 percent last January, but on an annual level by ‘only’ 8.2 percent. GDP growth was at – 6.5 percent and unemployment was at 10.1 percent last year; net wages were 2.4 percent lower and the retail volume index plummeted by 5.4 percent. World trade fell by 12 percent in 2009 – the biggest decline since World War II.

There were positive changes too, for instance Corvinus-GfK Shopping Willingness Index (it hit the nadir last March) has been growing from early this year. However, nearly 50 percent of the population still considers the economic situation to be negative. In our opinion, the most important message and information is the following: purchasing power per person decreased by 15 percent in 2009, from EUR 5,549/person in 2008 to EUR 4,702/person in 2009.