Hungary's calendar-adjusted retail sales increased by 6.3% y/y in April 2014, slowing down from 8.5% y/y the month before, the statistics office said on June 25 revising down its preliminary estimate of 6.6%.

The statistics office said it had revised the retail volume indices back to July 2013 after replacing sample-based estimates on tobacco sales with comprehensive data from the state company overseeing the segment. This resulted in an increase of between 1.2pps and 2.3pps compared to the previous data releases.

Retail sales edged up by 0.1% m/m in seasonal and calendar-adjusted terms in April, easing from 0.9% m/m in March.

The annual growth was supported by a 7.5% y/y increase in food trade, a 7% y/y rise in non-food trade as well as a 3.8% y/y rise in automotive fuel sales. The latter grew for the thirteenth month in a row in April.

Within the non-food category, sales of textiles, clothing and footwear increased by 12.5% y/y. Sales in non-specialsed stores advanced by 10.2% y/y and sales of furniture and electrical goods went up 7% y/y. The turnover in cosmetics stores grew by 11.1% y/y and pharmaceutical sales advanced by 6.5% y/y. Retail trade in second-hand stores picked up by 1.6% y/y. By contrast, sales of books, computer equipment dropped by 2.2% y/y in April.

In cumulative terms, Hungary's calendar adjusted retail sales increased by 6.9% y/y in January to April 2014 driven by an 8.1% y/y increase in food trade, a 6.1% y/y rise in non-food trade as well as by a 5.9% y/y hike in automotive fuel sales.