Retail sales in Croatia in July increased 3.6% year-on-year in the real terms, and is a slower increase than that of 6.3% recorded in June y-o-y, the national statistics office (DZS) reported on Friday.

Retail sales increased by 3.6% on the year however compared to June they dropped by 2.1%.

Retail sales recorded a fall in May of 2% year-on-year, breaking a streak of 56 consecutive months of the rise in consumption year-on-year, however, in June sales rebounded by 6.3% on the year.

“From the trends indicated, it is almost certain that retail reflects and confirms that personal consumption will continue to be the main contributor to GDP growth,” analysts at Raiffeisenbank Austria (RBA) said commenting on the DZS figures.