Retail sales in the Czech Republic rose by 5% year-on-year in January 2026, significantly exceeding market expectations of a 2.8% increase and accelerating from a 1.8% gain in December 2025. This was the strongest expansion in retail activity since April 2025, driven mainly by higher sales of automotive fuel (up 7.3% vs 4.4% in December) and robust growth in mail-order and internet sales (up 18.7% vs 3.7%).
In the non-food segment, turnover also picked up markedly (7.8% vs 2.1%), led by culture, sports and recreation goods (9.1% vs -2.1%), cosmetics and toiletries (8.5% vs 8.2%), and clothing and footwear (6.9% vs 0.9%). By contrast, sales fell in specialized household goods stores (-3% vs -0.3%), while growth eased slightly in food, beverages and tobacco (0.3% vs 0.7%).
On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, retail sales increased by 1% in January, the steepest rise since April 2025 and a clear rebound from the 0.1% decline recorded in the previous month.
