In May 2023, internal trade sales registered a slight growth of 0.1% compared to May 2022, marking four consecutive months of positive results. This was mainly due to increased sales in supermarkets and hypermarkets (+10.4%) as well as books, newspapers, and stationery items (+7.5%). In contrast, this growth was offset by reduced sales in department stores (-8.8%), hardware stores (-14.1%), pharmacies and drugstores (-1.9%), and home equipment products (-7.2%).