The consumer spending decline observed in late October was neither an outlier nor an anomaly, says a new SberIndex tracker.
No major improvements in spending throughout Russia were spotted between November 2 and 8. The metric lost 8.3% y-o-y after sliding by 10.8% y-o-y a week before that. Over the last four weeks, the demand shrunk by 6% y-o-y.
The general change has remained weak since late May. Spending keeps declining across non-food items (–3.4% y-o-y) and the service sector (–28.1% y-o-y).
The consumer activity index lost 3.5 points over the week to reach 67.8 points, which can be compared to a sluggish Sunday when many people stay at home or minimize purchases.
There’s a signature increase in spending on food items (3.1% y-o-y). The demand for medications and healthcare products stays high (+28.4% y-o-y).
The demand for all types of the passenger transportation is still on the wane. Expenses on airline and train tickets are down by 57–58% y-o-y, and spending is plummeting for urban transport (–40.5% y-o-y), car-sharing services, and taxis (–25.6% y-o-y).