Retail trade goes down as volume of services rises

The retail trade had decreased, while the volume of services provided to the population for payment over 11 months increased, Info-Prim Neo reports, quoting the National Bureau of Statistics. The retail outlets during January-November this year sold consumer goods to the value of 17.930,8 billion lei, a 4.6% decrease in real terms compared with the corresponding period last year. The decrease stemmed mainly from the 9.9% reduction in sales of nonfood products, which make up 64.8% of the retail sales, as against 67.1% in the same period last year. The sales of food products rose by 5.1%, constituting 35.2% of the retail sales, in contrast to 32.9% over January-November 2008. The sales at the joint (public and private) companies fell by 9.1%, at public companies – by 8.2%, at private companies – by 59%, at joint companies with foreign capital – by 0.8%. The stocks at retail outlets on December 1, 2009 totaled 5.087,5 million lei, a 11.1% increase compared with December 1, 2008. The officially registered units in the eleven months to November provided services of 11.173,8 billion lei, an increase of 2.6% in comparable prices compared with the corresponding period last year. The joint companies with foreign capital and the joint (public and private) companies increased the volume of services provided to the population for payment by 49.0% and, respectively, 31.0%. The public and private companies reported decreases in the volume of services, of 13.1% and 10.9% respectively.