The retail sales index in Romania accelerated to 15.8% y/y in August after reaching 10.8% y/y in July, hitting the sharpest annual growth since June 2016, according to statistics office data. Sales of non-food goods surged by 19.1% y/y, the second largest rate since the 2008-2009 recession, and in seasonally-adjusted terms they were 35% above the pre-crisis level in August.

Retail sales increased at robust rates in July (10.8% y/y) and August Labour market conditions have steadily improved with the net wage rising by 15% y/y, the highest annual rate in a year (except for January growth artificially caused by delayed bonuses). Unemployment also decreased to a historic minimum of 5.1% (ILO methodology) in August after dropping to 5.2% in July. The rising employment came despite repeated hikes in the minimum statutory wage that were visible in the overall average wages.

Food sales increased by 10.9% y/y in August, despite food prices increasing above average. Food price inflation eased to 1.6% y/y in August, but this was still above the 0.5% y/y average inflation and it came after 2%-3% figures in April-July. Car fuels sales soared by 18.4% y/y in August, among the highest growth rates in the post-crisis period. However, in absolute terms car fuels sales are only 8% above the pre-crisis levels, compared to the much stronger recovery seen in the sales of food and non-food.