In June, the turnover growth of retail trade enterprises decelerated

In June 2016, the turnover of retail trade enterprises was 550.5 million euros.

The turnover growth of stores selling manufactured goods slowed down markedly in June. The turnover of those stores increased 13% in May compared to the same month of the previous year, whereas in June the growth was 6%. The turnover increased in five and decreased in two economic activities. Turnover increased the most in stores selling second-hand goods and in non-store retail sale (stalls, markets, direct sale), with sales increasing 28% over a year. The turnover increased also in stores selling pharmaceutical goods and cosmetics (14% growth), via mail order or the Internet (10% growth), in stores selling textiles, clothing and footwear (9% growth) and in stores selling household goods and appliances, hardware and building materials (8% growth). The turnover in non-specialized stores selling predominantly industrial goods (e.g. department stores) and in other specialized stores, such as stores selling computers and their accessories, books, sports equipment, games and toys etc. decreased compared to June of the previous year.

The turnover growth of enterprises engaging in the retail sales of automotive fuel also decelerated in June. While in May the turnover of those enterprises increased 6% compared to the same month of the previous year, then in June the sales remained on the level of the previous year. The turnover growth deceleration was partly influenced by the higher reference base of June 2015 and deceleration in the price decrease of automotive fuel.

The turnover in grocery stores has shown a rather stable growth in the recent months. In June, the turnover of these stores increased 4% compared to June of the previous year.

Compared to the previous month, in June, the turnover of retail trade enterprises decreased 1%. According to the seasonally and working-day adjusted data the decrease was also 1%. In the six months of 2016 (January–June), the turnover in retail trade enterprises increased 6% compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.

In 2016, to publish monthly statistics on retail trade, Statistics Estonia started to use only the VAT declaration data of the Estonian Tax and Customs Board and stopped data collection with the questionnaire “Turnover”. This reduced the response burden of entrepreneurs and Statistics Estonia’s expenditure on data collection, and increased the use of administrative data. Due to the change in the data source, the monthly news release “Retail trade” will focus on the turnover of retail trade enterprises, instead of the retail sales of such enterprises. Statistics Estonia will continue publishing the retail sales indicator of retail trade enterprises on a quarterly and yearly basis. Statistics Estonia published the monthly summary in four working days.