Prices are rising, but so is turnover: fruits, meat and tobacco are the most expensive

12 kilograms of clothes per year Let us remind you, as we recently reported, in Serbia, up to 80,000 tons of clothes are sold in a year, that is, each citizen buys around 12 kilograms of clothes on average. It is mainly worn on socks and underwear.

That is, despite the epidemiological situation and the measures taken, consumption habits during the first half of the year are similar to those of the same period last year, but what makes the difference are the jumps and falls in prices of certain products. This is what the official statistics show.

What do we buy more?

According to current data from the Office of Statistics of the Republic (SBS) on the trade of goods in retail trade, which covered the first half of this year, the results are as follows:

– Observed relative to the 2019 average, in April there was a significant drop in turnover, followed by better results in the following two months. However, the long-term trend is growing slightly during the first half of this year and was even above last year’s average. There is an increase of 4.9 percent in current prices and 5.6 percent in constant prices.

– The second quarter of 2020, as well as the previous ones, shows that the most represented were food products and alcoholic beverages (38 percent), followed by fuels (14.1 percent) and other non-food products. After that, there are: household products, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and toiletries, tobacco, information and communication equipment, while products for culture and leisure are at the bottom of the list.

Trend dinner

If we look at the movement of prices from one month to another and compare them with the same periods of the previous year, the SBS data shows that the annual inflation rate was the highest at the beginning of the year, in January it was 2 percent. hundred. It fell until April, when it was 0.6 percent, only to start climbing again and hit a value of 1.6 in June. The biggest contribution was made by the growth in the prices of food, soft drinks and tobacco, as well as housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels.

In the total price of food, the price of vegetables during the second quarter was the only deflationary element, and in the structure of the fall in prices, the price of potatoes, onions and cabbage had the largest participation. On the other hand, fruit price growth continued to be the most inflationary element, with apples, lemons and oranges having the greatest influence on fruit price growth. In addition, pork was more expensive, then dried, smoked, salted meat and other types of meat, except beef, whose prices fell. To this must be added the increase in the price of tobacco, which amounted to 7.3 percent.

What does the third quarter bring?

When it comes to merchandise turnover in retail, the SBS forecast is that the first three quarters of this year will collectively bring a 5 percent increase compared to the same period last year. However, the inflation rate will grow with it: the third quarter could expect an increase of 1.8 percent and the fourth of 2.8 percent compared to the same periods last year.