In March 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 7.5 % 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 31.7 %.
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 10.1 % and 8.5 %, respectively.
The sharpest decrease was registered for ‘Textiles, clothing and footwear’, i.e. a fall of 59.1 %.
From March 2018 onwards, indices are expressed with reference year 2015=100.
The series ‘Retail sale of food, beverages and tobacco’ for the deflator of sales and the quantity has been revised from February 2018.
The series ‘Retail sale via mail order houses or via Internet’ for the value and quantity has been revised for January 2019.
The data collection on the volume of retail trade has been affected by the COVID-19 crisis. The results are based on fewer statistical observations than usual. Imputation methods have been applied to remedy this situation.