Retail trade

In October 2020 estimates for seasonally adjusted index of retail trade slightly grew, after decreasing in September. In the month-on-month series, value of sales was up 0.6%, while volume rose by 0.2%.

In the three months to October 2020, value of sales increased by 7.6%, while volume grew by 9.0% in the same period.

Year on year, retail trade index rose for the 3rd month in a row, as value sales increased by 2.9% and volume sales by 2.5%.

In October 2020, large-scale distribution was up 5.2% year on year, while small-scale distribution continued to decrease, contracting by 2.1%. Non-store retail sales fell by 9.2%, this is the 9th consecutive decline this year.

Online sales hit record levels in October 2020, with sales up by 54.6% compared with the same period a year ago.

Looking at the value of sales for non-food products, there was a mixed picture across the different categories. The strongest growths were reported for computers and telecommunications equipment (+26.0%) and electric household appliances and audio-video equipment (+18.6%). The largest falls were seen in shoes, leather goods and travel items (-9.2%) and stationary, books, newspapers and magazines (-7.6%).