Slow recovery in Russian consumption continues; good increases in industrial output

Despite its slow revival pace, the recovery in seasonally-adjusted retail sales plodded forward in May. The sales were about 2.5 % larger than in May last year. Retail sales have been climbing out of a deep slump for nearly a year and half but are still down about a tenth from their 2014 level.

Seasonally-adjusted industrial output as a whole has grown nicely in almost every month of this year, driven especially by manufacturing. Rosstat's revised figures show that in April-May industrial output had grown nearly 4 % from one year earlier, while manufacturing output had climbed by well over 5 %.

Industrial production and core categories, 2016−2018

Source: Rosstat.