Retail spending in Croatia rose for the ninth consecutive month in October, increasing by more than 9% year-on-year, which indicates a further recovery of consumption and the entire economy from the coronavirus crisis.

The state statistics bureau (DZS) on Tuesday released a report on retail trade turnover, and according to working-day adjusted data, October’s retail spending decreased in real terms by 2.1% on the month but was 9.2% higher on the year.

That is a slower growth rate than in September, when retail spending jumped by 14.5%, however, October was the ninth month in a row that retail spending increased on the year after it had decreased for 11 months under the impact of the coronavirus crisis.

“The trend of positive annual growth rates in retail trade continued in October, albeit at a slower pace compared to preceding months,” (RBA) analysts said in their comment on the DZS report.

In October, turnover from retail sales of food, beverages and tobacco products rose by 4%, while turnover from retail sales of non-food products, except for automotive oils and lubricants, jumped by 8.4% on the year, show data from the DZS.

In the first nine months of 2021, turnover from retail sales went up by 13.1% year-on-year. In all of 2020, it dropped by 5.8%.