According to Jaanika Tiigiste, leading analyst at Statistics Estonia, the turnover of stores selling manufactured goods fell by 24 percent on year.

"The main reason for the turnover decline in April was the fact that shopping centers were closed for the whole month due to the emergency situation," Tiigiste explained.

Turnover decreased the most, by 72 percent, in stores selling textiles, clothing and footwear. Other specialized stores selling predominantly manufactured goods, i.e. department stores, but also pharmacies and cosmetics stores lost half of their turnover compared with the same period a year ago. In stores selling second-hand goods and in non-store retail sale (stalls, markets, direct sale), the decrease was 32 percent.

In other specialized stores, such as stores selling predominantly computers and their accessories, books, sports equipment, games, toys, flowers, plants, etc., turnover declined by 18 percent, and in stores selling household goods and appliances, hardware and building materials, by 11 percent.

Businesses engaged in the retail sale of automotive fuel recorded a 25 percent decline in turnover, while the turnover of grocery stores remained steady on year.

In April, compared with March, the turnover of retail trade enterprises decreased by 18 percent. According to seasonally and working-day adjusted data, the decrease was 13 percent.

In the first four months of 2020, the turnover of retail trade enterprises decreased by 1 percent on year.

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