Athens Chamber of Commerce: The strongest sector of the Greek economy once again ‘turns its back’ on difficulties

“Despite rising costs for energy, transport and raw materials, it appears that retail and industries such as clothing and footwear, which have risen in price by only 1.6% per year, have absorbed most of the increase and did not transfer the cost to the consumer “.

This is underlined by the Athens Chamber of Commerce in a statement and adds that: “the recent announcement of ELSTAT, shows that the evolution of the Consumer Price Index for the twelve months of April 2021-2022 reaches 10.2%, while the main sectors of retail excluding food, cars and fuel do not exceed 4.2%.

Despite rising energy, transport and raw material costs, it appears that retail and industries such as clothing and footwear, which saw prices rising by only 1.6% per year, absorbed most of the increase and did not transferred the cost to the consumer. The strongest sector of the Greek economy once again “turns its back” on the difficult “.

At the same time, the association adds: “as mentioned in a recent survey by IELKA, the tendency of 75% of consumers to postpone the purchase of personal items, clothes or household items due to unavailable income and the decision of 41% to avoid shopping in order to to create an emergency fund, resulting in declining turnovers, increasing the uncertainty and anxiety of colleagues to keep prices at competitive levels.The Athens Chamber of Commerce with substantiated proposals the combination of reduced sales and increased operating costs to ensure the viability of small and medium-sized enterprises “.