In 2022, domestic sales in the domestic trade sector grew slightly by 1.8% compared to 2021, exceeding pre-pandemic levels (2019) by 22.9%. This advance was driven by higher sales in supermarkets and hypermarkets (+2.3%), hardware stores (+0.5%), pharmacies and drugstores (+10.3%), and book and stationery retailers (+80.2%). In contrast, this performance was partially offset by lower sales in department stores (-7.4%) and home equipment stores (-10.4%), associated with lower demand in these latter categories due to the population’s prioritization of spending on food and health.
