Sales of Brazil's supermarket sector increased by 2 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2018, the Brazilian Supermarket Association (ABRAS) announced Tuesday.

Nominal values of sales rose by 5.37 percent year-on-year from January to June this year.

Sales fell by 0.7 percent in June month-on-month, but increased by 3.37 percent year-on-year, with nominal values of sales rising 0.55 percent month-on-month and 7.89 percent year-on-year, according to ABRAS's sales index.

The June figures were a direct result of the nationwide truck drivers' strike, which paralyzed Brazil in late May, said ABRAS's representative Marcio Milan.

"We already expected a sales fall compared with the previous month," Milan said. "The sector suffered with shortages of some products, and that was reflected in June's negative figures."

ABRAS reduced its estimate of the growth for 2018 from 3 percent to 2.53 percent due to the economic crisis Brazil is facing, including the decrease in GDP growth projections, the high annual inflation rate, the rise of the U.S. dollar and the fall in industrial output, according to Milan.