Minuses prevail

In the first six months of 2009, retail sales were lagging behind last year’s by 3.2 percent. Volume sales increased by 0.5 percent from June to July. HUF 3,356 billion worth of products were sold by retail chains and mail order companies, of which HUF 629 billion was realised in June. KSH’s report indicates that 46 percent of retail sales were realised by food and food-type retail units. In June 2009, volume sales by hyper-, supermarkets and small shops (which realise 91 percent of sales) took a downturn of 4.2 percent. Central Hungary continued to be the most important region in retail, with a 38-percent share in the first quarter of 2009.