MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Retail sales drop 25.5% year-on-year in Argentina

“In terms of prices, February had less uncertainty than November, December, and January,” CAME also explained

A study released Sunday by the Argentine Confederation of Medium-Sized Companies (CAME) showed a 25.5% interannual decline at constant prices in retail sales in Argentina and a 27% drop for the first two months of 2024, it was reported in Buenos Aires. The Index of Retail Sales of SMEs also mentioned a 7.4% setback from January, when a 6.4% monthly decrease had been recorded.

February was “a month to forget with consecutive days in which no sales were recorded,” the document also warned. During the second month of the year, household disbursements outpaced incomes “and vacations took away the surplus money,” it went on.

In addition, “there were some problems in obtaining merchandise due to delays in deliveries”, while “due to the lack of liquidity, businesses placed more orders than usual with suppliers, but for low amounts.”

“In terms of prices, February had less uncertainty than November, December, and January,” CAME also explained.

Food and beverages sales dropped 33.3% annually in February, at constant prices and accumulated a 35.2% drop in the first two months of the year compared to the same period of 2023. In the inter-monthly comparison, they fell 7.6%.

Decoration, home textiles, and furniture fell 22.7% annually. It adds up to a 21.6% drop in the first two months of the year compared to the same period of 2023. However, in the inter-monthly comparison, they rose 8.2%.

Footwear and leather goods sales decreased by 21.4% year-on-year and accumulated a decline of 21.1% in the first two months of 2024 compared to the same period last year while sales fell 7.8% from January's figures.

Pharmaceutical sales plummeted 39% interannually and are down 42.4% in the first two months of the year, compared to the same period of 2023, with an 8.8% drop from January.

Perfumery sales plunged 40.9% year-on-year in February and accumulated a drop of 36.7% in the first two months of 2024 compared to the same two-month period last year. On a month-on-month basis, the decline was 11.4%.

Hardware, electrical, and construction materials recorded an interannual decline of 28.2% and accumulated a decrease of 29.8% in the first two months of the year compared to the same two-month period of 2023. In the month-on-month comparison, they went down 9.4%.

Textile and apparel sales rose 3.5% annually in February, at constant prices and accumulated an increase of 2.2% in the first two months of the year, compared to the same two-month period of 2023. However, in the month-on-month comparison, sales fell 3.2%.