The level of consumption was at a standstill in the first six months

Hungary’s economy and consumption were characterised by stagnation in the first half of 2012 – reported GfK Hungária in the Retail Analysis study conducted by its Consumer Panel Services. Hungarian households’ expenditure on food and household chemicals amounted to HUF 1,330 billion in the examined period, growing only by 0.5 percent from the base period. In the same period food prices augmented by 6 percent, so this market stability actually means lower volume sales. Hypermarket sales did not change, while discounters, supermarkets and domestic chains were able to increase sales a bit, but this increase hardly reached the level of the price increase.