RegioData Shopping Climate Index 3/09

As in the previous period the Shopping Climate Index is at an extremely low level of 57.8 points in the third quarter of 2009.

The development in the individual CEE countries varies greatly. Especially countries that experienced the greatest retail growth over the past few years are now being hit the hardest. This includes primarily the Baltic states which show very low SCI values. Retail sales in those countries dropped about 15% in the last half year.

The retail climate in Ukraine is equally unpromising. Turnover in the retail trade sector decreased by incredible 23% in the last six months.

In the countries of former Yugoslavia there is great variation. Slovenia performs best with an SCI of 88 points, Croatia is slightly below the CEE average.

Compared to other eastern european countries, Poland has a friendly shopping climate at the moment. Especially retail is unexpectedly strong.

In general, many indicators suggest that the shopping climate will brighten up a little in the near future. According to the current data the Baltic states and Ukraine will need more time to recover. Other countries like Romania and Croatia should see brighter skies a bit sooner.