The volume of FMCG products - such as toiletries - purchased across Europe has risen by its highest year-on-year according to the latest data released today by Nielsen Growth Reporter. It is based on the sales measurement that Nielsen performs in 21 European markets, and covers sales in grocery, hypermarket, supermarket, discount and convenience channels.
In the first quarter of 2015, FMCG sales volume across Europe increased 2.4%. The growth in volumes was accompanied by a 1.8% rise in prices paid. Consequently, takings at the tills increased by 4.2% – the highest level for three years (since Q1 2012, 4.7%).
“Four years of predominantly falling prices have finally delivered some good news to Europe’s somewhat beleaguered grocery retailers in the form of record increases in volumes,” says Nielsen’s European director of retail insights Jean-Jacques Vandenheede. “Although the huge growth in Turkey has played a significant part, grocery retailers will also be relieved to see price inflation, across the continent, rising for the first time after five straight quarters of decline.”
In Q1, Turkey continued to experience, by far, the highest nominal year-on-year sales growth (+
19.9%
) among the 21 European countries measured, followed by Hungary (+
4.9%
) and Sweden (+
4.2%
).
Greece ( -3.0% ) had the largest decline in nominal growth, followed by Finland ( -1.9% ) and Ireland ( -0.5% ).
Of the big five western European markets, Germany (+ 2.8% ) had the highest nominal growth, while the UK was the only one to experience a decline ( …
