Retail sales in the Netherlands have surged at the quickest rate in seven months as of March. This has primarily been fueled by a significant demand for non-food items. This information was released by the Central Bureau of Statistics on a Wednesday.
After accounting for the variation in shopping days, retail sales grew at a rate of 4.8% annually in March. This is significantly faster when compared to the 3.7% uptick seen in February. Sales have been on a rising trend since March of 2021.
Most noteworthy is that this growth rate was the most robust since August 2023, during which there was a sales growth of 5.8%.
Sales of products that do not constitute food items increased at a quicker pace, scoring 6.2% annually in March. On the other hand, food sales saw an increment of 2.3%. The data also showed that online retail sales were higher by 2.3% in comparison with the previous year.
On a base that was not adjusted, retail sales marked an increase of 3.9% annually in March.
