Decline in the turnover of retail trade enterprises slowed down in October
According to Statistics Estonia, in October, the turnover of retail trade enterprises was 884 million euros. Compared with October 2022, turnover fell by 5% at constant prices.
Johanna Linda Pihlak, analyst at Statistics Estonia, said that while turnover in September decreased by 7% compared with the same time last year, the decline slowed down somewhat in October. “The drop in retail trade turnover in October was most affected by stores selling manufactured goods, where turnover fell by 10% year on year,” Pihlak added.
Among stores selling manufactured goods, turnover decreased the most, by 27%, in stores selling via mail order or the internet. The decline in turnover was also above average in other specialised stores selling predominantly computers and their accessories, books, sports equipment, games, toys, etc. (down by 14%) and in stores selling household goods and appliances, hardware and building materials, which reported a fall by 11%. Turnover increased by 4% in pharmacies and stores selling cosmetics.
Compared with October 2022, turnover of grocery stores decreased by 1%. Turnover of enterprises engaged in the retail sale of automotive fuel, which had been falling since the start of the year, returned to growth in October, increasing by 2% year on year. “The sales growth in these enterprises was affected by the fall in the prices of automotive fuels,” said Pihlak.
In October compared with September, the turnover of retail trade enterprises increased by 2%. According to the seasonally and working-day adjusted data, turnover remained at the previous month’s level.
In the first ten months of 2023, the turnover of retail trade enterprises decreased by 8% compared with the same period of the previous year.
The statistics are based on the VAT declaration data of the Estonian Tax and Customs Board. Statistics Estonia performs the statistical activity “Financial statistics of trade enterprises (monthly)” for the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications in order to determine how the Estonian economy is doing.
See also the internal trade section on our website.
More detailed data have been published in the statistical database.
When using Statistics Estonia’s data and graphs, please indicate the source.
For further information:
Silvia Uus
Communications Partner
Marketing and Dissemination Department
Statistics Estonia
Tel +372 625 9367
press [at] stat.ee (press[at]stat[dot]ee)