Swiss Retail Sales Growth Accelerates To 2.6%

(RTTNews) - Swiss retail sales growth quickened in December to the highest level in four months amid faster rises in demand for food and non-food products, data from the Federal Statistical Office revealed on Friday.

Retail sales rose 2.6 percent on a yearly basis in December after a 1.4 percent increase in November. Further, this was the sixth successive growth in a row. Meanwhile, economists had expected only a 0.6 percent rise.

Sales of food, drinks, and tobacco registered an annual expansion of 2.7 percent versus a 1.0 percent gain in the prior month. Similarly, the growth in the non-food sector, without service stations, accelerated to 3.4 percent from 1.3 percent in November.

Month-on-month, retail sales grew 0.6 percent in December after remaining flat in the previous month.

In nominal terms, retail turnover registered an annual growth of 1.1 percent.