The fall was less than the 4.2pc drop in May and the 4.0pc decrease in April, which broke a five-month streak of accelerating declines. Twelve-month retail sales have fallen every month since February 2007. In a month-on-month comparison, retail sales rose 0.5c in June compared to a 0.4pc drop in May, according to seasonally- and calendar-year-adjusted figures. The rise was the first monthly increase since a 0.6pc one in January. January-June sales volume fell 3.2pc from the same period a year earlier. The retail sales data includes turnover of vehicle fuel from January 2009, in line with changes to revised EU statistical classifications.

KSH said…

Retail sales of cars and vehicle spare parts, which are not part of the retail sales index, fell 38.8pc in June and were down 31.7pc in H1 from a year earlier, KSH said. Fuel sales rose a calendar year-adjusted 2.5pc in June from the same month a year earlier after a 0.4pc decline in May, and were up 0.9pc yr/yr in the first half. In a month-on-month comparison, fuel sales rose a calendar year- and seasonally adjusted 0.7pc after remaining flat in May. While overall retail sales have dropped in a month-on-month comparison in each month since August, with the exception of January and June, fuel sales have risen or stagnated since December, with the exception of a drop in April.

FMCG sales

Retail food, beverage and tobacco sales fell an adjusted 3.8pc in June from the same month a year earlier, the second-biggest twelve-month drop since the autumn. The drop in sales had slowed since April. In a month-on-month comparison, food, beverage and tobacco sales fell 0.6pc in June after falling just 0.1pc in May and stagnating in April. January-June sales fell 2.6pc from the same period a year earlier. As in the previous twelve months, supermarket sales accounted for 91pc of FMCG sales. FMCG sales at specialised shops rose 1pc in June from the same month a year earlier. In a twelve-month comparison, non-food retail sales fell less than food sales, by an adjusted 2.6pc in June following a steep 8pc fall in May. In a month-on-month comparison, non-food sales rose 2.9pc, the biggest increase in twelve months on the back of a 2.5pc climb in May. January-June sales still slipped 5.9pc from the same period a year earlier.

Sales of non-food products

Within non-food sales, sales of furniture, construction material and household goods rose 14.5pc in June in a month-on-month comparison, climbing for the first time in twelve months to bring sales volume back to levels in June 2008. Other groups registering month-on-month rises included book and newspaper sales (1.3pc) and mail order sales (2.7pc). Sales of non-food products at non-specialised shops fell 2.2pc in June after rising every month since January. First-half retail non-food sales at supermarkets dropped 9.2pc. Hungarian retail sales, at current prices, totalled HUF 629bn (EUR 2.3bn) in June and amounted to HUF 3,356bn in January-June. Food and FMCG sales accounted for 46pc of retail turnover in January-June.