Cyprus retail trade decline deepens in Dec

**Car regs, petroleum sales down in Jan**
The decline of retail trade deepened in December according to preliminary figures, with retail sales volumes falling by 6% over the year earlier, from a revised 2.8% in November.
The steepest decline was in sales of electrical goods and furniture, which dropped by 20.1%.
Computer equipment and book sales fell by 11%.
Food products rose by 7% over the year earlier, presumably as people eat at home instead of going out.
For the whole of 2012 retail sales are provisionally estimated to have fallen by 3.6%.
In terms of value, retail sales are provisionally estimated to have fallen by 2.4% in 2012.
Meanwhile, registrations of motor vehicles remained depressed in January, dropping by 21% to 1,980 from 2,505 in January 2012.
Sales of petroleum products declined by 10.2% in January compared January 2012.