FMCG sales in Europe rose by 3.7% in the second quarter of 2017, the highest level for three years, according to new data from Nielsen.
Looking at grocery retailers across 21 European countries, the growth figure reflected a 2% increase in the prices shoppers paid, and a 1.7% increase in the volume of items they bought.
“This more buoyant FMCG market across Europe is a reflection of four key factors,” said Olivier Deschamps, Nielsen's senior vice president for retailer services Europe.
“Improving economic conditions, particularly in the likes of France and Spain, falling unemployment in a number of countries, consumer confidence rising to its highest level in years as well as inflation remaining under control. The timing of Easter also played a bit-part role but the dashboards are all green at the moment.”
Quarterly Performance
Turkey had the highest year-on-year growth during the second quarter of 2017 (+14.2%), followed by Slovakia (+9.3%), and Austria (+6.7%). At the other end of the spectrum, Switzerland (-0.7%), Denmark (+1.2%) and Greece (+1.9%) saw the smallest growth.
In the big five Western European markets (Italy, France, Spain, UK, Germany), Italy recorded the highest level of growth (+4%), followed by France (+3.2%). Germany recorded the lowest growth in this group (+2.3%), and the fifth lowest among all 21 countries studied.
“With GDP growth across Europe projected to remain at around 1.75% in 2017 and, assuming no major political or economic shocks over the next six months, the outlook for the grocery market for the rest of year is a continuation of Southern Europe’s sales recovery and Northern Europe’s volume growth,” said Deschamps.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Sarah Harford. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
