Due to high inflation, the Austrian retail sector lost turnover last year. The industry (excluding car sales, including gas stations) recorded a nominal sales growth of 8.1 percent compared to 2021. Taking inflation into account, however, sales volume only fell by 0.8 percent. This is evident from preliminary evaluations by Statistics Austria on Monday.
In 2022, the turnover increase in the trade in food, luxury foods and tobacco products was 5.2 percent compared to the previous year, which means a turnover decrease of 3.2 percent. The trade in non-food items experienced a turnover growth of 8.1 percent, which meant a turnover growth of 1.3 percent.
A similar picture emerged in December 2022: Austrian retail sales (excluding car sales; including petrol stations) nominally increased turnover by ten percent compared to the same month of the previous year 2021; in real terms, i.e. taking inflation into account, this corresponded to a minus in sales volume of 0.4 percent.
The non-food sector also experienced a clear increase in real terms
Retail sales of food, beverages and tobacco achieved a turnover increase of 6.8 percent in December, while sales volume fell by 5.3 percent. The trade in non-food items generated 12.1 percent more in nominal terms and thus also recorded a sharp increase of 3.3 percent in real terms. However, the first half of December 2021 in particular was still dominated by corona measures. The calculation of retail sales for December 2022 is preliminary.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
