The effects of skyrocketing inflation on people's spending habits are being felt by Belgian retailers, which saw sales volumes fall consistently since January.
The number of products sold by retailers fell 0.9% in September this year compared to the same month last year, data published by statistics agency Statbel on Friday showed.
The trend has persisted since the turn of the year, first as a result of the rising cost of energy and subsequently inflation in other areas.
In the first nine months of this year, the retail sector saw declines in volumes sold on a year-on-year basis. In June, this peaked at 7.4%.
While the largest declines were seen by stalls and markets (a drop of almost 20%), the amount of food, drinks and tobacco sold in specialised stores all fell by about 5% compared to last year.
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By contrast, the sale of IT and communications equipment in specialised stores, as well as textiles, clothing, footwear and leather goods sold by specialised stores increased.
Though volumes may be falling, overall turnover is still showing signs of improvement. In September, revenues rose 8.1% at time when inflation was 11.27%.
In September 2022, the volume of sales, excluding fuels, fell 0.2% compared to the same month in 2020, which was another atypical year as a result of the pandemic.
