Romania records highest annual growth for retail trade in EU

The retail trade grew in Romania by 15.6% in January this year compared to January 2015. It was the highest annual growth recorded among the EU member states, according to the EU’s statistical office Eurostat. In the euro area, the retail trade increased by 2% in January year-on-year whereas the average advance in the EU was 2.8%. The sale of non-food items went up by 3% in the EU whereas the sales of food, tobacco and alcohol dropped by 2.1%. The retail trade rose by 1.9% in Romania in January compared to December last year (in seasonally adjusted terms). The country recorded the fourth largest monthly growth in the EU. Only Portugal, Poland, and Slovenia saw higher increases. Romania’s retail sales growth was supported by two VAT rate cuts in the last 12 months. The VAT rate on food was cut from 24% to 9% in June 2015 and the general VAT rate went down from 24% to 20% in January this year. editor@romania-insider.com