Kazakh population began to save on food
Sales of food products fell from 9.3% in 2014 to 0.8% in 2015
According to the Committee on Statistics of the Republic of Kazakhstan under the Ministry of National Economy, the growth of the physical volume of retail trade was only 2.8% in Kazakhstan in January-August 2015 against the same period last year. Since the beginning of the year this figure rose above 5%, while last year it was steadily above 10%, falling to 8.4% only during one period.
"The main blow is felt by commercial enterprises. The official statistics showed growth of only 0.4%. Individual entrepreneurs and markets feel more confident with the rate of increase of 6% (last year it was 7.1%). If we translate the language of digets to the language of business, it turns out that consumers are buying less and migrate from large supermarkets to smaller shops and markets ", - said the Secretary of the Trade Committee of the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of Kazakhstan "Atameken" Zhibek Azhibaeva.
So, according to her, the main decrease in the volume index of retail sales occurred in the category of food products - from 9.3% last year to 0.8% in January-August 2015. In the category of non-food items there is still a growth rate of 3.7%, but it is still significantly lower than last year 10.8%.
"First of all shoppers cut spending on non-essential goods. The report data of Nielsen Kazakhstan FMCG Report confirms this trend: by the dynamics of sales in the past year such categories as chocolates, snacks, household products shifted to a negative zone", - stated Azhibaeva.
However, consumers in different regions of Kazakhstan behave differently. The lowest growth rates demonstrate Almaty, Almaty region, Aktobe region, Atyrau region, West Kazakhstan region, Karaganda region, North-Kazakhstan region region. Some of these regions on the border with Russia, which also continues to have an impact on retail sales in Kazakhstan.
The following figures illustrate the scale of what is happening. Retail trade turnover in January-August 2014 was 3.6563 trillion tenge; sale of the ruble in the exchange offices - 104 billion tenge (by the average exchange rate of the NBK), that is conditionally 6% from the retail trade. The same figures for January-August 2015: retail trade turnover - 3.8772 trillion tenge; sale of the ruble in the exchange offices - 297 billion tenge or conditional 17% of turnover.
"It is unlikely that Kazakhstan's population used the ruble as a reserve currency. The point is that Kazakhstan is losing retail sales in favor of Russia ", - said the representative of the Trade Secretariat of NCE.
Azhibaeva stressed that the competitiveness of Kazakh enterprises is falling, as well as export of goods to Russia. Moreover, domestic production is displaced by Russian producers at the Kazakh market. "The people of Kazakhstan got the opportunity to buy Russian goods, or go for shopping to Russia, which, as the figures show, has a negative impact on the situation at the Kazakh market", - she added.
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