The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has been incredibly damaging to the European retail trade, with Croatia’s economy being among the worst hit in the entire European Union (EU). While there were some ‘good’ aspects to come out of this, such as more Croats online shopping and turning to domestic produce, it’s still very difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel for many.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 7th of July, 2020, the growth of European retail trade was mostly driven by motor fuels on a monthly basis, given the fact that it recorded growth of almost 40 percent across the EU.
After the April decline in retail trade on European market, which stood at 11.4 percent on a monthly basis in the European Union and at 12.1 percent in the Eurozone itself, May finally brought some respite to the enfeebled industry brought to its knees by the negative consequences of the global coronavirus pandemic.
In that month, after easing the “lockdown” measures which were put into place to try to slow down the rate of infection which was sweeping the globe with a remarkable yet terrifying ease, the European retail market grew by an encouraging 16.4 percent when compared to the terrible results recorded during April, while in the Eurozone, it managed to reach 17.8 percent according to Eurostat.
However, on an annual basis, May could have actually been somewhat of a negative sign because compared to last year, there was an expected decline in that month, by 4.2 percent in the European Union, and by 5.1 percent in the area which uses the common European currency (Eurozone).
With encouraging retail growth of 21.4 percent in May, Croatia was among the countries with the highest growth, led by Luxembourg with 28.6 percent, followed by France with 25.6 percent and then by Austria with 23.3 percent growth.
As stated, the growth of the European retail trade was mostly driven by motor fuels on a monthly basis, given that this item in the recorded growth of almost 40 percent in the EU. Non-food products followed fuel with 30.2 percent growth.
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