In the third quarter of 2016, European consumer spending on daily purchases like food, drinks and beauty care products only grew slightly. In Belgium and the Netherlands rising prices compensated for a drop in volume, but in the UK both went down.
Weak results
Prices of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) grew 0.8 % compared to last year, but volumes only went up 0.3 %. In total, retailers’ turnover only grew 1.1 %: the third smallest growth since the calculations began in 2008’s final quarter.
Belgian FMCG products’ price grew 2.3 %, which offset a 0.8 % volume drop. Belgian retailers’ revenue grew 1.5 % in the end. In the Netherlands, prices grew 2 % and volumes dropped 1 %, resulting in a 1 % turnover growth.
Across the 21 European countries that were calculated, Turkish retailers enjoyed the biggest turnover boost (+ 8.1 %), followed by Spain (+ 3.6 %) and Slovakia (+ 3.5 %). On the other end of the scale, Greece (- 6.3 %) and Finland (- 6 %) suffered huge drops. Out of the five largest Western European markets, Spain performed best (+ 3.6 %), followed by Germany (+ 0.8 %). Out of these five, the United Kingdom’s revenue dropped the most (- 0.7 %) according to market research firm Nielsen’s latest findings.
