Poland: Retail sales growth picks up pace in September
Retail sales rose 2.7% year-on-year in September, which was markedly up from August’s 0.4% increase.
September’s notable improvement was largely driven by a notable rebound in motor vehicles, motorcycles and parts sales. In contrast, textiles, clothing and footwear sales fell in September.
Meanwhile, the annual average variation of retail sales come in at 0.0% in September, down from August’s 0.2%.
Commenting on the outlook for the Polish economy, Rafal Benecki and Dawid Pachucki, chief and senior Poland economists at ING, reflected:
“The economy’s performance in October will probably remain relatively good, as shown by a slight deterioration visible in the effective lockdown indexes. However, we believe that with the introduction of further restrictions, the economic situation will deteriorate in the coming months. For the time being, the restrictions only cover hotels, restaurants and sports and recreation facilities. However, the example of other countries shows that when a pandemic gets out of control, the pressure to introduce full lockdowns increases. This creates the risk of economic downturn on both, Polish export markets and domestically.”