Stats: Retail Revenues Down 2.5 percent Y-o-Y in March 2025

Bratislava, May 7 (TASR) - Retail sales in Slovakia decreased by 2.5 percent year-on-year (y-o-y) in March, the Statistics Office reported on Wednesday, adding that this was the second drop in a row. Seasonally adjusted, retail revenues fell by 1 percent month-on-month in March. As many as six of the nine retail segments saw revenues decline in fixed prices when compared to March 2024. The office ascribed the drop mainly to hypermarkets and supermarkets (non-specialised outlets), which enjoy a 40-percent share of total revenues in the sector. Their revenues went down by 4.5 percent y-o-y in March. The second most significant impact on the sector's overall result was 6.4-percent growth in revenues of specialised outlets selling footwear, clothing stores, drugstores and pharmacies. Their revenues in fixed prices grew for the 18th consecutive month. Meanwhile, the downward trend in the sector also resulted from a 9-percent fall in the revenues of hobby markets and outlets selling furniture and electronics, and from a 3.2-percent drop in the revenues of kiosks, e-shops and markets, etc. (entities without outlets). Smaller retail components, such as specialised outlets selling food, beverages and tobacco, sports accessories, books and toys (specialised goods for culture and recreation) also posted a notable fall in sales of over 9 percent. In the first three months of 2025, retail revenues went down by 1.5 percent y-o-y, with drops recorded by seven of the nine retail segments. ko/df