Jaanika Tiigiste, a leading analyst at Statistics Estonia, said the turnover of stores selling manufactured goods, as well as the turnover of enterprises engaged in the retail sale of automotive fuel - which were most affected by the emergency situation in spring - grew steadily from June to August. "Compared with August 2019, the turnover of stores selling manufactured goods increased by 6 percent and the turnover of enterprises engaged in the retail sale of automotive fuel by 2 percent," Tiigiste added.

Of stores selling manufactured goods, turnover increased the most - by nearly a fifth - in other specialized stores, such as those selling predominantly computers and their accessories, books, sports equipment, games, toys, flowers, plants, etc.

Turnover increased by 8 percent in stores selling via mail order or the internet, and by 3 percent in stores selling second-hand goods and in the non-store retail sector (stalls, markets, direct sale), in pharmacies and stores selling cosmetics, and in stores selling household goods and appliances, hardware and building materials. Turnover fell by 4 percent in stores selling textiles, clothing and footwear and by 2 percent in other non-specialized stores selling primarily manufactured goods (department stores).

The turnover of grocery stores increased by 2 percent over the same period.

In August compared to July, the turnover of retail trade enterprises decreased by 2 percent. According to the seasonally and working-day adjusted data, sales remained at the same level.

In the first eight months of 2020, the turnover of retail trade enterprises increased by 2 percent compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.

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