Commenting on the results, Johanna Linda Pihlak, analyst at Statistics Estonia, said: "The increase in retail trade volume in April was driven by enterprises engaged in the retail sale of automotive fuel and by stores selling manufactured goods – compared with April last year, their turnover volume was up by 18 percent and 7 percent, respectively."

Pihlak said that the volume of turnover, which in March had grown by 2 percent on year, demonstrated slightly faster growth in April.

The biggest growth was seen in other specialized stores (e.g. computers, books, toys) with a 34 percent increase, while turnover rose by 3 percent in clothing and footwear stores, and by 2 percent in second-hand and non-store retail (e.g. markets, stalls).

Turnover volume declined by 7 percent in online and mail order stores, by 6 percent in department stores, and by 2 percent in household goods and hardware stores, while remaining unchanged in pharmacies and cosmetics stores.

The turnover volume of grocery stores showed no increase in April and remained at the same level as in April last year, Statistics Estonia reported.

Retail trade turnover increased by 2 percent in April compared with March, with seasonally and working-day adjusted data confirming the same 2-percent rise.

In the first four months of 2025, the volume of retail trade turnover increased by 4 percent compared with the same period of the previous year.

Retail trade data are classified based on an enterprise's main economic activity, Statistics Estonia reported, so if a company primarily operates as a grocery store Classification of Economic Activities in Estonia (EMTAK) category 4711 but also sells online, all turnover—including from online sales—is reported under grocery stores, while data for online retail (EMTAK category 4791) only include enterprises whose main activity is online or mail order sales.

Turnover volume index is an index which expresses the change in the volume of sales of goods at constant prices compared with the sales in a previous period. Price indices of goods are used in the calculation of the turnover volume index.

Statistics Estonia compiled the above report on behalf of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications and using data from the Tax and Customs Board (MTA).

More detailed information is available from Statistics Estonia's website here and here.

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