Consumer spending in the Czech Republic dropped in October, a new government report has revealed.

Figures published by the Czech Statistical Office showed that seasonally-adjusted retail sales fell by 0.7 per cent month-on-month.

The fall was mainly due to a drop in sales of food and drink, with more expensive items such as furniture and electrical goods experiencing a small rise in demand.

However, not all big-ticket items fared well, as vehicle sales fell by 8.6 per cent.

The figures come against a backdrop of a slowing economy, which prompted the Czech Republic's central bank to cut interest rates by 0.5 percentage points to 2.25 per cent earlier in the week.

Those economic problems have also hit the Czech property market and the Financial Times recently reported that developers have delayed work on several major residential complexes in the capital Prague because of concerns about financing the projects.

However, local market experts told the newspaper that could prove to be good news for property investors in the longer term, as it means over supply will not become an issue which impacts on prices.