The retail sales volume index in Romania increased by 11.1% year-on-year in January (+9.3% in December), the highest annual increase in nearly two years, according to data from the statistics office INS.

The rise was rather equally shared between food or non-food goods (with the growth rates standing at 10.6% and 11.2%) while the sales of car fuels, typically more volatile, increased by 11.9% compared to the same month of 2019.

The retail sales index advanced by 7.2% in 2019 compared to 2018, gaining momentum after the more modest 5.6% annual advance in 2018.

In seasonally-adjusted terms, the 3.5% month-on-month performance in January was the strongest since early 2017 - calculated for either overall sales or non-food sales.

The robust performance in January comes amid expectations for robust, yet gradually weakening sales through 2020, a pattern expected to be driven by tighter income policies in the public sector, among others.

The tight labour market keeps pushing up the wages in the private sector, though.

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editor@romania-insider.com