Rosstat recorded a consumer boom in expensive goods

Russians have become more active in buying expensive goods against the backdrop of a pandemic and inflation. Over the year, sales of cars, watches, jewelry grew, and they began to buy them last year,

In 2021, sales of luxury goods and expensive durable goods increased in Russia: in January-September, watches were sold by 37.5% more than in the same period in 2020, mobile phones - by 27.9%, jewelry - by 26 .6%, cars - by 24.8%. This follows from the monitoring of the socio-economic situation, posted by Rosstat on December 1. We are talking about comparison in comparable prices, that is, in real terms.

The upward trend in purchases of appliances and jewelry has been traced since last year. The sales volumes of these categories of goods grew even against the backdrop of a general drop in retail sales during various quarantine restrictions. Compared to the same period in pre-pandemic 2019, Russians purchased more than one and a half times more watches and smartphones, as well as computers (the latter could partly be provoked by the transition of companies to remote work), follows from the data provided by RBC Rosstat. Car sales also showed an increase in relation to the pre-Covid period, increasing by more than a quarter.

Mobile phones, computers, washing machines, cars, jewelry account for more than 11% of all retail sales, according to Rosstat data. At the same time, according to the department’s methodology, the sale of goods is taken into account at full cost (even in the case of discounts), and the Central Bank pointed out back in 2017 that the deflator, with which Rosstat calculates turnover in comparable prices, does not quite correctly take into account numerous trading promotions .

Why the consumption strategy has changed