Inflation in the European FMCG sector is at its lowest level for four years, data published by Nielsen has found.
FMCG price inflation has now fallen for the fifth successive quarter, Nielsen found. In the fourth quarter of last year, FMCG sales were up 3.1% year-on-year, driven by a 1.5% rise in sales volumes and a 1.6% rise in price.
Germany saw a 1.3% increase in sales in Q4 2014, with France also seeing small growth (+0.6%). However, Spain (-0.1%), the UK (-0.3%) and Italy (-1.2%) were all in negative growth.
“Aggregate European retail growth is being held back by the region’s big five countries, which are not performing particularly well," commented Nielsen’s European director of retail insights Jean-Jacques Vandenheede. "They’re either in negative growth or below the European average." Turkey posted the highest level of growth among the countries studied, with +18.6% sales growth. Greece saw the largest decline, with -5.2% negative sales growth.
© 2015 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones.
