Although statistics show a sharp increase in the average salary in the country, it is noticeable that people are struggling to cover their daily expenses, as evidenced by the decline in retail trade figures. This sector can be considered a mirror of people's well-being, LETA reports, citing Latvijas Avīze. During periods of rising well-being, people's expenses grow, which contributes to further growth in people's income, since the money spent by one person allows another to earn money, which means that the overall volume of the national economy and people's material opportunities grow. Unfortunately, retail trade figures for recent months do not show anything like this, rather the opposite. Data on various product categories indicate that stratification is increasing in Latvian society – the purchasing power of some is growing, while that of others is falling. One of the clear signs that something is wrong with people's wallets is the decline in retail food sales. June was especially indicative in this regard – food sales fell by 5.2% compared to June last year. Overall retail sales also fell, but less – by 2.1%. These figures are atypical because the food segment of trade is usually quite stable, i.e. it does not experience sharp jumps or falls, as happens in the trade of non-food products. Therefore, a drop in this segment by more than 5% makes one wonder: is the purchasing power of the population really declining so sharply that it is time to talk about an economic crisis? It should be noted that in the previous months, the retail trade indicators were far from brilliant.
