Gergely Suppan: stable growth can start in the retail sector

The KSH announced on Monday that the volume of retail trade in August increased by 3.2 percent compared to August 2023, compared to August 2023, based on raw data, and by 4.1 percent adjusted for calendar effects.

The calendar-adjusted volume of sales in food and food-type mixed stores increased by 7.5 percent, in non-food retail by 2.9 percent, and in fuel retail by 1.2 percent.

Gergely Suppan highlighted that the structure of consumption has changed, shifted towards services, and this is also visible globally.

He explained that after the coronavirus epidemic, people want to make up for the trips and vacations they missed during the epidemic, so they spend more and more on services instead of goods.

He added: the turnover of goods has also started to recover, it seems that the postponed consumption is increasing the demand for consumer durables.

Gergely Suppan pointed out that real wages have increased by about 10 percent since the beginning of the year, and sustained real wage growth encourages people to start consuming. Citing the research of the Nézőpont Institute, he said that people are increasingly willing to spend on items of greater value.