Despite the inflationary impact and
after six years of falling, mass consumption ended 2022 with a positive number: it grew 1.9%
compared to the previous year, according to data managed by the Scentia consultancy.
That was the annual closing of sales in nearby supermarkets and self-service stores, after accounting for the month of
December
.
In that period, beyond the increased consumption for the Holidays, the balance was a
1.1% drop,
explained by a 3.2% rise in large stores and a 4.7% drop in retail businesses. proximity.
“In line with what we assumed, mass consumption manages to close positively at +1.9% in 2022,
after six years of retraction.
In this way, something of what was ceded in the 2016-2021 period is recovered, ”said Osvaldo del Rio, president of the consultancy specialized in collecting information in different format businesses.
"Although December had a contraction of -1.1%,
what happened in the first seven months of the year left a high positive base
that made us presume this result," explained the analyst.
.
The data from the consultant show that especially in the first half of the year,
the interior of the country
showed good results based on the good performance of regional economies, internal tourism and sales in border areas, among the most prominent vectors.
According to Scentia, "both supermarket chains and independent self-service stores closed the year positively (3.1% and 0.8% respectively), despite the decline in recent months in this local format."
"Only the baskets for hygiene and cosmetics and cleaning clothes and homes had a
setback,
although not very important," he said in a report.
In December, the consumer mood tried to surf the fall in the purchasing power of
wages, which tend to lag behind inflation.
The weighted average price on shelves in the last month of the year, according to Scentia, accelerated by more than 96%, in a trend that is related to the inflation data published by INDEC.
In March, the curve reached 52.5%.
The Abeceb consultancy explains that consumption has two key factors:
the purchasing power of wages and financing options.
"In this framework, the real salary in 2022 did not lose what was expected against inflation due to
the opening of parities
and permanent negotiations. The year closed at -0.4% for private registered workers, which partly explains the support of consumption massive and semi-durable goods," he argued.
From the perspective of the director of the consulting firm Focus Market, Damián Di Pace, "the month of December marked a dual behavior in domestic consumption. In general, retail sales grew 2.7% in that period," he explained.
“In the case of
large commercial surfaces, sales also grew 3.5% favored by the Fair Prices agreement
, the World Cup matches and the recomposition of income with an increase in the minimum wage, retirements, bonuses and reinforcements of social programs.
However, in formats where Fair Prices are not present, sales slowed down and ended up falling "he explained.
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