Swiss consumers dig deeper into pockets
Nominal retail trade sales in Switzerland grew by 4.4 per cent in August compared to the same period in 1999.
With inflation taken into consideration, the increase was 1.6 per cent, according to figures released on Tuesday by the Federal Statistical Office.
The Office said sales developed quite differently in the main product groups. They went up nominally by 4.5 per cent (2.3 per cent in real terms) for food, drinks and tobacco, but fell by 3.6 per cent (3.2 per cent) in textiles and clothing.
The Office said fuel sales figures had increased by 47 per cent, due to the significant price rises.
In the non-food sector, sales of office machines were up by 28 per cent, sport articles by 15 per cent, and watches and jewellery by 12 per cent.
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