Business situation in the trade sector significantly improved in the 1st quarter of 2024. The IRG SGH trade confidence indicator (IRGTRD) increased by 11.5 pts to 2.0 pts and remains higher than the respective year 2023 figure (-3.6 pts). However, it is 1.8 pts lower than the first quarters’ average within the last ten years (which amounts to 3.8 pts).
Companies operating in the trade sector evaluated their general situation as good, the value of the balance of their responses amounted to 27.5 pts. Expectations about further general economic situation within the next six months remain optimistic.
Companies operating in all surveyed urban or rural centres inform about improvement of business situation concordantly. The greatest growth of the trade confidence indicator was recorded for companies operating in small cities and in the rural areas, the lowest for companies operating in medium-size cities. The value of the indicator remains negative only for companies operating in medium-size cities.
The surveyed companies reported high costs of employing new employees, insufficient demand, and strong competition being the most significant impediments to doing business. The significance of high loan interest rate was much lower than in the past quarters.
Researchers:
Katarzyna Majchrzak, katarzyna.majchrzak@sgh.waw.pl
Łukasz Olejnik, lolejn@sgh.waw.pl