The lower wages, some 6.6% down y/y in Q2 (June readings not released yet), contributed significantly to the weaker sales performance. In seasonally adjusted terms, retail sales kept declining for the fourth consecutive quarter in Q2, by 0.9% q/q, data from the National Statistics Office show. Food sales contracted by 2.0% q/q, reversing the slight improvement (+0.5% qq) in Q1, while non-food sales increased by 1.6% q/q along with a visible upward trend seen since January. There is a wide discrepancy in the dynamics of the food sales, which are already below the 2023 benchmark, and the non-food sales that remain significantly above the average 2023 levels. In annual terms, the food sales were 5.6% y/y lower in Q2, with the non-food sales and the sales of fuel dropping by 5.2% y/y each.