Slovak retail sales fell for the ninth straight month in February 2013, moving down by 1.8% y/y, following a 1.3% annual decline in January, data from the country’s statistics office showed. The reading was affected mostly by lower retail sales of recreational and cultural goods (-18.3%), sales of “other goods” in specialised stores (-2.7%) and sales of food, beverages and tobacco in specialised stores (-1.6%), the statistics office said. Turnover increased only in sales of other household equipment in specialised stores (+0.8%), in retail trade not in stores, stalls or markets (+0.5%) and in fuel sales (+0.3%).

On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, February’s retail sales grew by 1.3% following a 0.4% increase in January.

Slovak retail sales fell by 1% last year to EUR 17.93bn, despite the country’s solid economic recovery during the first half of the year, as persistent high unemployment rates and falling real wages dampened household consumption. The current data confirms that domestic consumption in Slovakia is still being depressed and we don’t expect it to recover in the near term, given the sluggish economy.