The decline in retail turnover continued in September, with more than half of the sector ending up in a double-digit loss

Turnover in almost the entire retail trade lagged behind last year's level, as many as 8 out of 9 components recorded a decline. It decreased significantly mainly in specialized stores, but turnover in constant prices was also lower than last year in non-specialized hyper- and supermarkets. Turnover increased in sale and repair of motor vehicles and in food and beverage service activities.

In September 2023, retail turnover¹⁾ also did not reach last year's values. Its year-on-year decline has persisted for 8 consecutive months, it currently reached 5.4% and was higher than in the previous three months. Out of the 9 monitored components of retail trade, 8 had lower turnover than in September 2022, and up to 5 even recorded a double-digit drop.

The negative balance of the sector was most affected by a turnover drop by 16.7% in specialized stores with household goods, which include hobby markets, furniture and consumer electronics stores, by a decrease in turnover by almost 8% in specialized stores with other goods e.g. with footwear, textiles or drugstores, but also by 12% year-on-year lower turnover not in stores, including mail-order sales. In terms of turnover volume, the most significant non-specialized hyper and supermarket stores did not contribute to a better result either, their turnover decreased by 3% year-on-year.

The negative result of the retail trade was moderated by only a quarter turnover growth of fuel stores. However, this result was significantly affected by the expansion of the number of reporting units from the beginning of 2023 after the reclassification of their main activity as retail trade.

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Year-on-year development of other components of trade in September 2023

Turnover in sale and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles¹⁾ increased by 13.6% year-on-year. Their growth was shown by all its components, while turnover of motor vehicles rose more dynamically by 16% and also in repair and maintenance by 18.5%. The level of September 2022 was also exceeded by food and beverage service activities¹⁾ by 11.3%. Wholesale²⁾ turnover was lower year-on-year for the seventh consecutive month, in September the rate of decline accelerated even further, up to 8.5%. Turnover of accommodation¹⁾ also dropped by 6%.

Year-on-year development in September 2023 compared with August 2023

Turnover for September³⁾ compared with August rose only in sale and repair of motor vehicles, even only slightly by 1.1%. Turnover of other components of the internal trade resulted in negative numbers. Year-on-year turnover dropped the most, by up to a fifth, in accommodation, by 4.8% in food and beverage service activities, in retail by 2.2% and in wholesale by 1.8%.

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Development for 2023

In total, for the first nine months of 2023, turnover rose in sale and repair of motor vehicles1) by 17.2%, in accommodation¹⁾ it increased by 18.8% and in food and beverage service activities¹⁾ by 12%. Year-on-year lower turnover was recorded by retail¹⁾ by 5.2% and wholesale²⁾ by 3.8%.