KSH: Hungary retail sales up 1.6 pc in January

Budapest, March 3 (MTI) – Retail sales in Hungary climbed by an annual 1.6 percent in January 2016, preliminary data released by the Central Statistical Office (KSH) on Thursday show.

Retail sales rose by 2.1 percent when adjusted for calendar year effects.

The unadjusted rise was down from 5.0 percent in December 2015.

Adjusted food sales were down by 1.5 percent in January, non-food sales climbed by 5.7 percent and fuel sales increased by 4.4 percent.

In 2015, retail sales were up by 5.7 percent according to unadjusted and rose by 5.8 percent according to adjusted data.

KSH noted that legislation requiring most big retailers to remain closed on Sundays came into force in the middle of March 2015, but said that more time and data were needed to gauge the effects of the rule.

Analysts told MTI that although the January retail data remained below expectations, retail turnover growth could accelerate in the remaining part of the year.