The economic downturn is hitting shops hard

Text Mark Taylor
Photo Erik Mclean / Unsplash

According to data released by Statistics Estonia, in February 2024, the turnover of retail trade companies in the country was 739 million euros, which was 3 per cent lower than in 2023. In fact, retail trade turnover has been in a continuous decline for the past year and a half.

“Compared with last February, turnover was down by 8 per cent in stores selling manufactured goods and by 2 per cent in grocery stores. However, the growth in the turnover of companies engaged in the retail sale of automotive fuel continued, with turnover rising by 9 per cent compared with February last year,” shared Johanna Linda Pihlak, an analyst at Statistics Estonia.

Among stores selling manufactured goods, turnover decreased the most, by 17 per cent, in stores selling household goods and appliances, hardware and building materials. Turnover declined by 14 per cent in stores selling via mail order or the internet, by 5 per cent in stores selling textiles, clothing and footwear, and by 4 per cent in other non-specialised stores, such as department stores.

A drop in turnover was also seen in stores selling second-hand goods and non-store retail sale, (i.e. stalls, markets and direct sale (4 per cent)), and in other specialised stores selling predominantly computers and their accessories, books, sports equipment, games, toys, etc., (4 per cent). However, turnover increased by 5 per cent in pharmacies and stores selling cosmetics.

Compared with January this year, the turnover of retail trade companies was down by 4 per cent in February. However, according to the seasonally and working-day adjusted data, turnover was up by 1 per cent in comparison with the previous month.

To learn more about this and similar topics
Department Stores Retail Retail Trade Shopping Statistics Estonia Turnover