Retail sales volume at 4.3% in February

Retail sales volume increased by a healthy 4.3% in February 2006, compared with the same month of 2005, albeit it at a slower pace of increase than the 6.6% recorded in January.

For the first two months as a whole, retail sales rose by 5.52%: higher than the 4.8% recorded for the whole of 2005.

By category, the fastest rising subsector in February was pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, up by 24.9% compared with the same period of 2005.

Food sales at non-specialised stores rose the next fastest at 6.3%. Food sales at specialised stores also rose fairly strongly, by 4.8% year on year in February, while furnitures and household electricals rose by 4.9%.

Retail sales by value rose in February by 5.7% year on year, following 7.5% in January and by 6.63% in the first two months combined. FM