Fuel sales increased 9.7% on the year in January through June, while sales of food and non-food items were up 3.9% and 1.9%, respectively. The data are adjusted for the number of working days and seasonal factors.
In June alone, however, adjusted retail sales edged down 1.1% from a month earlier, due to falling demand for non-food items, INS data showed.
Sales of non-food products decreased 3.3% on the month in June, but fuel and food sales were up 1.1% and 0.9%, respectively.
Compared with June 2011, Romanian adjusted retail sales increased 4% in June, boosted by higher fuel and food sales.
In unadjusted data, retail sales inched down 0.7% in June from a month earlier, but were up 3.9% compared with the same month of 2011.