OREANDA-NEWS. On July 29, 2009 ZAO Citibank published its second annual study of Russian foreign purchases. The study is based on statistical data on purchases made with the use of credit cards by Citibank's clients outside of Russia, reported the press-centre of Citibank.

The study analyzes data for the period starting from the beginning of 2005 until the end of the first half of 2009 (June 31), with a sample of at least 100,000 clients that were selected randomly for every year of the study period. It is the first time that data for the first six months of 2009 and the statistical trends for the past five years have been used to build a forecast until the end of 2009.

Key Points and Conclusions of the Study:

Share of expenses incurred abroad, which demonstrated an upward trend before, in 2009 has dropped almost to 2007 level.

In 2009, the average transaction amount in U.S. dollars has dropped by a quarter from US220 to \\$166, but has remained almost the same when calculated in Russian rubles.

The same countries and categories remain the expense leaders for 2008 and 2009, those being the US and Italy, Hotels and Clothing, respectively.

The highest increase in purchase volumes is observed in Airline Tickets, which is largely attributed to the increasing popularity of electronic airline tickets.

Switzerland and Turkey have improved their positioning in the country rating by the amount of expenses incurred abroad in 2009 (comparing to 2008 year), while Finland and the UAE have moved down.

Percentage of expenses incurred in such popular categories of international shopping as Clothes & Shoes and Jewelry has dropped in 2009.

Share of expenses in France, the UAE and Austria in the total volume of all expenses incurred abroad shows negative dynamics in 2009; the above-mentioned categories are dominating in the structure of Russian expenses in these countries.

The decreasing trend in average purchase volumes is distinct across all major product categories (major drops are in Jewelry and Home Products categories). The only country where the average purchase volume has increased is Cyprus.

Currently, the most popular country for jewelry shopping among Russians is Turkey; for Clothes and Shoes - Italy; and in the U.S. tourists spend most money on air travel.

The share of expenses incurred outside of Russia has dropped to 17.9% of all credit card expenses in 2009 as compared to 19.4% in 2008, and comparable to the pre-crisis level in 2007. It is important to note that, when calculated in Russian rubles, Russian expenses abroad have been slightly above 2008 level, which goes against the prevalent pessimistic forecasts about the negative effect of the economic crisis on Russian consumer confidence.

Mikhail Berner, Head of Credit Cards at Citi Russia, commented on the key conclusions of the study: "In 2009, there has been no dramatic change in Russian travelling habits. This is obvious from the slight increase we can observe in average ruble transaction volumes and increase in ruble spending volumes across just about all product categories and popular tourist destinations. The crisis manifests itself mainly in the sharp decline of the volumes of expenses incurred abroad: the growth rate is at its lowest for the last five years. We attribute the decline in foreign currency denominated expenses (calculated in absolute numbers) to ruble depreciation."