ZAGREB, April 30, 2020 – Consumption in Croatia in March dropped 7% from the same month of 2019, which is its biggest decline since 2010, when the economy was in a recession.
The national statistical office (DZS) on Thursday published a report on retail sales and according to working-day adjusted data, consumption in March dropped 11.7% from the previous month and by 7% in relation to March 2019.
This is a sudden change in trends considering that in February retail trade grew by 4.9% on the year.
The steep decline in consumption is due to restrictions imposed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, which took effect in the second half of March.
A decline in retail trade of 7% had not been recorded since January 2010, when the economy was in a recession.
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