Retail sales decrease after 28 months of growth

Czech retail sales surprisingly decreased in December 2001 after more than 2 years of steady growth. The Czech Statistics Office reported that retail sales dropped by 0.4 percent. For the whole year 2001, sales in the retail sector increased by 4.3 percent year-on-year. Analysts expected a slowdown but not a decrease.

In December, sales decreased for virtually all consumer goods with the exception of textile, shoes, pharmaceutical and cosmetic products.