Illustrative stock photo (source: TASR)
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Foreign trade balance remained in black
Pandemic cut revenues of shops
Restaurants and hotels saw their revenues drop low. It is significant, but not the only impact the coronavirus pandemic had on Slovakia's economy at the end of 2020.
While foreign trade balance continued breaking records, the annual inflation rate was at a historic low. Along with the hospitality industry, retailers' revenues received a significant blow.
Take a look at our overview of selected economic statistics published in January 2021.
Annual inflation sped up slightly
Everything you need to know about the Slovak business environment. For more details visit shop.spectator.sk. (source: Investment Guide)
The annual inflation rate in December 2020 amounted to 1.6 percent in total, while both core and net inflation accounted for 1.5 percent each.
Despite the slight increase in consumer prices (up from 1.5 percent y-o-y in November), it still remained at its lowest level in the last three years, according to the Statistics Office.
In monthly terms, the prices dropped by 0.1 percent.
Consumer prices for all 2020 rose by 1.9 percent in average, down from 2.7 percent in 2019.
“The slowdown in 2020 was mostly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, contributing to the lower prices of commodities, including crude oil, on the global markets, as well as easing wage pressures in the economy and the subsequent gradual slackening of demand inflation,” Ľubomír Koršňák, analyst with UniCredit Bank Czech Republic and Slovakia, wrote in a memo.
