Retail sales up 4% on year in October
Retail trade companies in Estonia earned €941 million in sales revenue in October, up 4 percent year-on-year, though food sales continued to decline.
According to Statistics Estonia analyst Johanna Linda Pihlak, the increase in retail trade volume was primarily driven by companies selling motor fuel and stores selling manufactured goods.
"The decline in food store sales slowed in October, falling 3 percent compared with the same month last year. The drop in volume was influenced by rising food prices," Pihlak added.
The sales volume of businesses engaged in retail motor fuel rose by 25 percent year-on-year compared to October 2024. Statistics Estonia said this increase was driven by a low comparison base from the previous year and falling motor fuel prices.
Fuel retailers engaged in a price war in October, pushing prices down.
"At the same time, it's important to stress that the sales revenue of companies selling motor fuel includes not only fuel sales, but total sales, which also covers revenue from food services and other goods and services," Pihlak clarified.
The sales volume of manufactured goods stores rose 4 percent compared with October last year.
Among manufactured goods, the largest increase — 21 percent — was recorded in other specialized stores, which primarily sell computers and accessories, books, sporting goods, games, toys and similar items. Sales volume also grew by 8 percent in stores selling textiles, clothing and footwear, 4 percent in second-hand shops and in locations outside of regular stores such as kiosks, markets, and direct sales and 2 percent in pharmacies and cosmetic product shops.
Sales volume decreased by 6 percent in stores selling household goods, appliances, hardware and construction materials, as well as in other non-specialized stores dominated by manufactured goods (such as department stores). Stores selling goods by mail or online saw a 5 percent drop in sales volume.
Compared with September, retail sales volume increased by 6 percent in October. Based on seasonally and calendar-adjusted data, sales volume rose by 2 percent.
In the first 10 months of this year, the sales volume of retail trade companies rose by 3 percent compared with the same period in the previous year.
--
Editor: Marcus Turovski
