ROMANIA: Sales of food, beverages and tobacco rose by 13.7% last year | Progresiv

Sale of food, beverages and tobacco increased last year by 13.7% compared with 2015, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INS).

Following the actions taken by the control authorities in the tax area and the reduction of the general VAT rate from 24% to 20% in January 2016 and the fact that the effects of reducing VAT on food were felt last year, sales of food, beverages and tobacco reported a significant increase during the year. The peak was reached in February, when the increase was over 31% compared to the same month last year.

In December, gross sales of food and beverages were down by 0.4% compared to the same month in 2015, and the ones depending on seasonality and number of working days increased by 2.4%, according to INS .

Compared to November 2016, sales of food, beverages and tobacco rose in December, with 15.5% depending on gross sales and decreased by 2.1% depending on the number of working days and seasonality.

Overall, retail trade, except for sales of  motor vehicles, increased by 13.5% last year.