Cyprus retail sales up 8.3% in Nov, 7.2% year to date

Retail sales in Cyprus continued their strong trend in November, rising by 8.3% in volume terms compared with November 2005, and by 10.0% in value terms during the same period.

For the first 11 months as a whole, retail sales volumes rose by 7.2% compared with Jan-Nov 2005, while the value of retail sales was up by 9.0%. This suggests that prices of retail goods rose by only 1.8% in a period when overall consumer price inflation rose by 2.6%.

Sales of food in specialised stores remained the strongest performer in November, up by 17% in volume terms year on year, although growth was broadbased for most of 2006, with only the small subsectors of secondhand and non-store sales showing a big decline.