Petrol prices in Spain register highest decrease in four years, but food prices continue to rise

PETROL prices in Spain have dropped by 1% in May, but food prices continue to rise.

According to the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE) this drop in petrol price is the highest decrease in four years.

Food and non-alcoholic drink prices on the other hand, continued to rise, by 3.5% in May, which is only slightly lower than the 4% in April.

Fresh food products managed to achieve the highest growth in price, reaching a whopping 5.4%.

The retail industry on the other hand experienced a tremendous decrease in the number of sales, with April this year having a 31.5% sales drop compared to the same month last year.

The INE calculates that around 46% of companies were closed to the public completely.

Employment in the retail sector decreased by 2% in the same month, compared to April 2019.

The INE points out that these stats however are affected by the ERTE scheme that the Government has introduced where people have managed to retain their jobs even though they’re not going to work.

Companies that specialise on electric products however have increased their sales by a staggering 52.9% in April, compared to the same month last year.