Photo by STEKLO / Shutterstock.com

Retail sales, excluding VAT, increased a working-day adjusted 6.8% year-on-year in July, following a 5.6% rise in June.

Sales of non-food stores increased 11.4% annually in July and sales in specialized stores rose 11.7%.

Sales of food, alcoholic beverages and tobacco increased 4.2% and those in non-specialized stores rose 4.0%. On a month-on-month basis, retail sales rose 0.8% in July.