Page 97 - bne IntelliNews Southeastern Europe Outlook 2025

Overall retail sales increased by 11.1% y/y in volume terms in October, one of the highest growth rates since 2021.
Seasonally adjusted, non-food sales continued the rally that resumed in May after the unusual step-like rise in January. From 105%-110% of the average of the year 2021, reported during most of 2023, the non-food retail sales hit 129% of the 2021 average in October 2024. This resulted in a 19.4% y/y advance, a sign of robust consumer confidence.
The robust consumer lending (new consumer loans were up 62% y/y in October, and 59% y/y in Q3) and higher wages (up 8.7% y/y in real terms during Q3) have visibly contributed to the surge of non-food sales.
5.9.2 Banks
Romanian banks posted a combined net profit of RON 4.2bn (€850mn) in the third quarter of 2024, setting a new quarterly record after robust earnings in the first half of the year: RON 3.7bn in each of the first two quarters of the year.
97 SE Outlook 2025 www.intellinews.com