Ukraine retail trade advances 11% in 2021

Ukrainian retail sales advanced 10.7% yoy in real
terms in 2021, compared to 7.6% yoy growth in 2020, Ukraine’s State Statistics
Service reported on Jan. 24. In December, retail sales increased 5.1% yoy (vs.
5.8% yoy growth in November), or 19.5% m/m.

Regionally, the highest retail growth in 2021 occurred
in  Chernivtsi (25.7% yoy), Ternopil (23.2% yoy) and Zakarpattia (20.7%
yoy) regions, while the slowest growth was observed in Kharkiv (2.5% yoy), and
Ukraine-controlled Donetsk (6.1% yoy) and Luhansk (6.2% yoy) regions.

Evgeniya Akhtyrko: Retail sales boomed in 2021, backed by fast growth of real wages. We
expect retail sales growth will slow to 5-6% yoy in 2022, as the gap between
the consumption patterns of Ukrainians and those in neighboring Central
European countries will be narrowing, leaving less room for the fast pick up of
retail.