Cyprus retail trade shows signs of recovery in July

Retail trade showed signs of recovery in July, marking its second straight month of increase, after a volatile few months that were preceded by over a year of decline.
According to provisional figures for July, retail sales volumes rose by 1.9% compared with July 2009, having risen by 0.6% in June.
The last time retail sales grew for two consecutive months was October 2008.
Food appears to have led the recovery, as the main increase has been in food products and “food, beverages and tobacco”.
Food products rose by 7.4% year on year in July and 5.5% year on year in June.
Non-specialised store sales of food, beverages and tobacco, meanwhile, rose by 7.9% in July and 5.5% in June.
Specialised store sales of FBT were also up, by 5.0% in July and 5.2% in June.
Cypriots have yet to rush back to buy big ticket items, however.
Sales of electrical goods and furniture dropped over the year earlier by 4.3% in July and 4.8% in June.
Sales of computer equipment and books inched up by only 0.6%.
For the period January-July 2010, retail trade volume is provisionally estimated to have decreased by 0.6% over the corresponding period of 2009.
Meanwhile, the value index in the same period recorded a provisional increase of 1.2%.

Fiona Mullen
www.sapientaeconomics.com