Cyprus retail sales accelerate in June (preliminary)

Retail sales in Cyprus accelerated in June, according to preliminary data, rising by 10.1% year on year, after revised growth of 6.2% in May.

Sales rose strongly in most subcategories, with the exception of food, beverages and tobacco in specialised stores (such as bakeries), where sales declined by 3.2%, after a fall of 7.2% in May after strong growth in the same months of 2006. Food sales in non-specialised stores, however, rose by 6.0% in May and a preliminary 8.0% in June.

At the same time, retail sales rose in value terms by 9.9% in May and by a provisional 12.8% in June.

For the period January-June 2007 the volume index is provisionally estimated to have an increase of 6.9% compared to the corresponding period of 2006.