In April 2020, the lockdown measures due to the COVID-19 crisis had a significant impact on the volume of sales in retail trade. The volume of sales, excluding fuels, has decreased by 12.0 % compared to the same month last year. In the same period, the sharpest increase was registered for “Retail sale via mail order houses or via Internet”, i.e. a rise of 49.1 %.
The sharpest decrease was registered for “Textiles, clothing and footwear”, i.e. a fall of 81.2 %.
We also observe significant increases in ‘Retail sale in non-specialised stores with food, beverages or tobacco predominating’ and ‘Retail sale of food, beverages and tobacco’, i.e. increases of 16.1 % and 15.8 %, respectively.
The data collection on the volume of sales in retail trade has been affected by the COVID-19 crisis. The results are based on a survey among enterprises and the response rate is lower than usual. VAT data have therefore been used to improve the quality.
From March 2018 onwards, indices are expressed with reference year 2015=100.