Real-time retail consumption tracker for January 3-9, 2022

Spending on goods and services in Russia added 12.1% y-o-y on January 3–9, 2021, down from last week’s +15.4% y-o-y. SberIndex analysts claim that the deceleration is due to two factors: rebounding foreign tourism and a marked decline in spending across non-food retail.

Net losses in domestic demand amid the reviving foreign tourism approximated 1-1.5 pp. SberIndex is committing to providing a more exact estimate in the middle of the month when the tourist season ends.

One more sign proving that outbound tourism is reviving is the dynamics of spending across foreign hotels (+57.5% y-o-y). Spending generally remained as high as last year across Russian hotels (‒1.7% y-o-y).

Non-food retail demand sank below the seasonal average (+9.0% vs. +12.6% y-o-y a week before). The long holidays traditionally result in data noise going up significantly, which is why SberIndex is only stating the fact that spending was suppressed.

The consumer activity index, which rose to 74.3 points ahead of New Year, dropped to a level typical for early January (50.7 points) after the shopping spree in the run-up to New Year.

A reference to SberIndex (www.sberindex.ru) is mandatory when publishing the materials.