Cyprus retail trade up prov 10.3% y/y in July

Retail trade volumes continued to bound ahead in July according to provisional data from the Statistical Service Cystat, with the turnover volume index of retail trade marking a rise of 10.3% year on year to 152.5 in July. 

Revised data for June show a rise of 10.9% compared with June 2006 according to our analysis. This was 6.9% higher than in May 2007.

For the period January-June 2007 the volume index recorded an increase of 7.1% compared to the corresponding period of 2006, and a provisional 7.6% in January-July.

The value index, meanwhile, recorded a rise of 10.1% in January-June and a provisional 10.6% in January-July.

 

Stationery and books do the best

 

While almost all categories have performed well so far this year, a star performer has been sales in books, newspaper and stationery stores, where sales volumes rose by 11.7% in the first seven months of the year.

This was second only to sales of cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, where there was a rise of 15% in the same period.

Looking around Nicosia, it appears that many kiosks have undergone a revamp in the past year or so. This may explain a comeback after a decline in 2002-05 and only weak growth in 2006.

Speculatively, the requirement to issue receipts may also have an impact on reported sales figures.

 

Fiona Mullen