Page 56 - RusRPTJan23

Retail trade turnover in Russia continued to decline in October and decreased by almost 10% y/y reaching RUB3.5 trillion ($57.34bn). In January-October, turnover decreased by 5.9% to 34.7 trillion rubles ($568.5bn), according to the Russian State Statistics Service (Rosstat). "Retail trade turnover in October amounted to 3.584 trillion rubles, or 90.3% (in comparable prices) compared to the corresponding period last year, in January-October - 34.783 trillion rubles, or 94.1%," the statement said. The share of large online retailers increased by 1.8 p.p. in October.
Household spending on goods and services fell by 7% y/y in real terms in the second and third quarters. Household purchasing power has been reduced by the spike in inflation that followed immediately from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Consumption has notably been affected more than just the drop in real household income, which deepened as late as in the third quarter and just to 3.4% y/y. As in previous recessions such as the covid recession of 2020, the drop in consumption partly reflects a significant shift to increased saving in households.
Goods purchases, which in normal years represent about 80% of household spending, have plunged even more. Retail sales, which according to Rosstat accounts for nearly 95% of household spending on goods, has remained down by 9–10% y/y since April.
Retail sales of food items, however, have only declined by a couple of percent. In the main food sales categories, the clearest drops have been seen in fish and dairy products, while sales of meat products have remained largely unchanged. Sales of alcoholic spirits continued to rise and were up by over 7% y/y in the first nine months of this year.
In contrast, retail sales of non-food goods were down by about 15% y/y in the
56 RUSSIA Country Report January 2023 www.intellinews.com