In October 2022, the volume of Croatia's retail trade dropped in real terms by 0.4 percent year-on-year, the state news platform Hina reported on Wednesday, citing publicly available data released by the state statistics bureau.

Retail trade volume had earlier posted positive growth every month from February 2021 until August 2022, when it inched down, only to pick up in September and fall again in October.

Hina did not offer any interpretation for these figures.

In October, retail sales of food, beverages and tobacco decreased by 1.9 percent year-on-year, while retail sales of non-food products (except automotive fuels and lubricants) decreased by 4.2 percent. In the first ten months of 2022, retail trade increased in real terms by 2.2 percent compared to the same period last year.

The decreases in retail trade and industrial production in October “indicate a further slowing of economic activity at the start of the fourth quarter,” Hina said.