In April 2018, retail sales were up 4.3 percent year-on-year, rising for the 44th consecutive month, faster than in March, and above expectations, while inching down slightly month-on-month by 0.1 percent, the state statistics bureau said on Thursday.

The data indicates the acceleration of growth, as in March 2018 retail sales rose by 2.1 percent year-on-year. Three economists polled by the state news agency Hina had forecast earlier this week that sales in April 2018 would go up 2.6 percent year-on-year on average.

This continues the record-long streak of increasing retail sales, as the last time it dropped year-on-year was in August 2014.

By product category, the retail sales of food, drinks, and tobacco products inched slipped by 1.2 percent, while retail sales in non-food products jumped by 12.2 percent.

In the consolidated results for the first four months of 2018, retail trade went up 3.4 percent compared to the same period the year before.

Raiffeisenbank Austria (RBA) analysts said in their comment that retail sales growth is likely to continue in the months ahead, with personal spending remaining the main driver of growth.

In the first quarter of 2018, Croatia’s GDP grew by 2.5 percent year-on-year, faster than in the preceding quarter, mainly due to the 3.9 percent rise in personal spending, one of the main GDP components. And among other things, the growth in personal spending is based on retail sales growth.

RBA analysts said that indicators of consumer confidence are in an upward trend, and should result in the continuation of good retail sales results.

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