Foreign markets – the Balkans States Volume sales are shrinking in many countries

Nielsen Growthreporter, a trend report published quarterly, states that in FMCG retail the second quarter brought disappointment. Basically, Western Europe is still stronger than Eastern Europe. In the 21 developed countries, nominal FMCG value sales only grew by 0.9 percent in the second quarter. This indicator went below 1 percent for the first time in the last four years. In the eastern part of Europe the crisis arrived with a 12-month delay. In Albania and Bosnia the rate of inflation is very high. In Slovenia the average price fell by 0.6 percent and food and chemical product volume sales decreased by 2.4 percent in December 2009-April 2010.

In the same period Croatia experienced a 2.6 percent decrease in the average price and volume sales contracted by 3.1 percent. Inflation was slowing down in Serbia, 5.1 percent was measured in the December-April period; FMCG volume sales decreased by 5.4 percent. In Romania the average price increase rate was slowing down and was at 1.9 percent, after the 8.9 percent in last December-April. However, volume sales also fell, by 13.4 percent.