Retail sales in the Czech Republic fell sharply in January

Retail sales in the Czech Republic fell again in January, the steepest since April last year. The reason was a restriction on sales or the complete closure of shops in order to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus. Data from the Czech Statistical Office (CSO) showed this on Monday. More specifically, retail sales in the neighboring country decreased by 6.5% year-on-year in January 2021, after adjusting for the number of working days. And on a seasonally unadjusted basis, it fell by 9%, the most since a record decline in April last year during the first blockade to halt the Covid-19 pandemic. Statistics also showed that seasonally adjusted sales of food in the Czech Republic decreased by 2.7% year-on-year in January, sales of non-food goods by 8.4% and fuels by 9.8%. January 2021 had two working days less than January 2020. Excluding the calendar effects, sales of food decreased by 4.1% year-on-year, non-food goods by 11.7% and fuel by 12.1%. In a month-on-month comparison, retail sales in the Czech Republic decreased by 6.6% in January, while sales of food decreased by 0.6%, sales of non-food products by 12.7%, while sales of fuels increased by 2.8%.