SEV: Tourist Traffic Offsets Losses in Retail Trade in Greece

Andrianou Street in Plaka. Photo © Maria Theofanopoulou

Tourist traffic to Greece offset losses in retail trade, which were a direct result of the political instability in June, the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV) said in its weekly report.

According to SEV’s bulletin, retail sales in June dropped marginally by 0.4 percent. However, total retail sales in the first half of the year recorded a 0.3 percent rise.

In the meantime, a major drop was recorded in June 2015 compared to the same month last year in department store sales, which were down by 13.7 percent, furniture/electrical appliances/household equipment sales dropped by 6.5 percent and food/drinks/tobacco sales declined by 4.7 percent.

On the other hand, sales in fuel/automotive rose by 4.4 percent, books/stationery/gift items by 3.7 percent and clothing/footwear by 1.4 percent.

SEV findings indicate that consumer confidence plunged in July and August, while estimates indicate that retail sales in the summer months of 2015 recorded losses of 1.33 billion euros, a 12.7 percent drop year-on-year.