Cyprus retail sales fall for first time in almost 3 years

The volume of retail sales in Cyprus fell for the first time in almost three years in November, dropping by 3.9% in volume terms, according to provisional figures from the Statistical Service.
In the previous month retail sales had risen by 5.4%.
Sales of furniture, household and electrical goods items dropped by 12.3%.
According to our records, the last time that total retail sales volumes fell was in April 2006.
In value terms, retail sales rose by only 1.2% in November compared with November 2007, having risen by 11.9% in October.
In another sign of weak consumer spending, motor vehicle registrations fell in January by 21.4% over the same period of 2008 to 4,456.