Retail trade turnover fell by 4% in March

Text Mark Taylor
Photo Anna Shvets / Pexels

According to data released by Statistics Estonia, in March 2024, the turnover of retail trade companies was 851 million euros. A fall of 4 per cent compared with March 2023.

“The decline in the volume of retail trade turnover was mainly due to stores selling manufactured goods, as their turnover volume was 9 per cent smaller than in March last year. The volume of turnover decreased in all types of stores selling manufactured goods. The biggest decrease at 16 per cent was registered in stores selling via mail order or the internet,” shared Johanna Linda Pihlak, an analyst at Statistics Estonia.

There was a decrease in turnover of 14 per cent in stores selling household goods and appliances, hardware and building materials, and 8 per cent in stores selling textiles, clothing and footwear. The volume of turnover fell by 4 per cent in other specialised stores selling predominantly computers and their accessories, books, sports equipment, games, toys, etc., and also by 4 per cent in stores selling second-hand goods and non-store retail sale (stalls, markets, and direct sale). In pharmacies and stores selling cosmetics, the volume of turnover decreased by 3 per cent.

The turnover volume of companies engaged in the sale of automotive fuel fell by 2 per cent compared with March last year. The turnover of grocery stores, however, took a slight upturn increasing by 1 per cent.

Compared with February this year, the volume of retail trade turnover grew by 15 per cent in March. According to the seasonally and working-day adjusted data, turnover was up by 1 per cent in comparison with the previous month.

In the first three months of 2024 (January–March), the volume of retail trade turnover decreased by 5 per cent compared with the same period of 2023.

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