Page 39 - RusRPTSept20

4.5.3 Retail sector dynamics
Russia’s consumer spending growth climbed to 1.9% y/y in the week to August 23 from 0.7% in the week to August 16.
Non-food spending growth showed the biggest uptick, accelerating to 12.4% y/y from 8.1%, while the decline in spending on services eased to 13.7% from 14.2%. However, food spending growth slowed to 3.6% from 5.2%.
The number of active businesses in the week to August 23 was 1.3% higher than the February (pre-pandemic) level (versus 0.7% higher in the week to August 16). The number of active food businesses was up 8.2% from February (it was up 8.0% the previous week). The number of active non-food businesses was 1.4% lower than in February (versus 1.9% lower the previous week). The number of active services business was still the furthest below the February level (down 2.2%, versus down 3.3% in the week to August 16).
Overall, consumer spending on food and non-food items has substantially recovered since the lockdown, while spending on services is still down considerably. However, the drop in spending on services has been easing, and we expect this to continue.
39 RUSSIA Country Report September 2020 www.intellinews.com