In March, retail sales in Hungary exploded due to a combination of factors. Retail sales in March grew by an annual 16.2% according to adjusted and unadjusted statistical data. The explosion is partly due to the closure of shops as a result of the covid restrictions and partly to one-off donations for citizens.
Food sales increased by 0.2% and the non-food sales by 29.7%. The volume of parcel shipping and E-commerce retail shrank by 7.3%. The reasons for the enormous growth in the non-food sales were the government measures before the parliamentary elections, such as income tax rebates for families raising children, income tax exemption for people under the age of 25, pension increases and bonuses.
Fuel price freeze imposed by the government has led to a huge increase in demand at petrol stations, partly due to fuel tourism. Adjusted for calendar days, retail fuel sales grew 51.4% year-on-year in March, up 27% month-on-month.
At current prices, 1,375 billion forints (3.6 million euros) were turned over in March, which was only exceeded by last December’s Christmas business.