Wholesale trade turnover grows by 4 pct in first half of 2020

The wholesale trade turnover increased by 4 pct in the first half of this year compared to the same period in 2019, the most important contribution to this increase coming from wholesale trade in raw agricultural products and live animals, according to data published on Friday by the National Statistics Institute (INS). According to INS data, between 1 January and 30 June 2020, wholesale trade in raw agricultural products and live animals increased by 23.9 pct, wholesale trade in computer and telecommunication equipment was up 15.4 pct, non-specialized wholesale trade grew by 5.2 pct, specialised wholesale trade in other products increased by 3.4 pct, wholesale trade in consumer goods, other than non-food products grew by 3.1 pct, and the wholesale trade in food, beverages and tobacco saw a 0.5 pct increase. On the other hand, in relation to the reference period, there were decreases in the intermediation activities in wholesale trade (-11 pct) and wholesale trade in other machinery, equipment and supplies (-3.1 pct). At the same time, the turnover of the wholesale trade (excluding trade in motor vehicles and motorcycles), as series adjusted for the number of working days and seasonality, increased in nominal terms by 2.2 pct in the first six months of the year, compared to the same period in 2019. The INS mentions that the data published on Friday capture the impact of the COVID-19 crisis and the measures taken by the authorities as a result of the decree of the state of emergency on Romanian territory from 16 March 2020 and of the state of alert, as of 17 May 2020. AGERPRES (RO - author: Daniel Badea, editor: Andreea Marinescu; EN - author: Maria Voican, editor: Simona Klodnischi)