The retail sales index in Romania increased by 3.2% in April, compared to the same month of 2021 (YoY), and by 0.3% (seasonally and workday adjusted) compared to March, Romania’s statistics office INS announced.

In gross annual terms, the food sales contracted by 2.2% YoY, which was expected due to the sharp rise in the prices.

The non-food sales increased by 5.7%, possibly as households sought to invest their savings in durable consumer goods ahead of rising inflation.

The 11.1% YoY surge in the sales of fuels confirms the low price elasticity of the demand in Romania.

The annual growth rate has eased from over 5% YoY in each of the three months of the year, but the advance is notable particularly due to the record inflation and the uncertain outlook.

Romania’s 0.3% monthly advance stands out among the negative performances in most other EU states. On average, the retail sales dropped by 1.3% in April. Furthermore, the 0.3% monthly advance in Romania is slightly lower than one could expect, judging from the performances of the three individual segments: food (+1.6% MoM), non-food (+2.2% MoM) and fuels (+3.6% MoM).

Indeed each segment is subject to its own seasonality, but still, the overall figure is somewhat against intuition. On a broader perspective, the seasonally adjusted sales of non-food goods have rallied since last November while the sales of food and fuels have undergone episodes of weakness over the past half a year. 

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iulian@romania-insider.com