Fashion shop shuttered due to coronavirus in Bialystok, Poland. Photo by dvoevnore / Shutterstock.com
Retail sales fell 9% year-on-year in March versus a 1.8% increase in the same month last year. Sales of majority groups decreased in March, which was influenced by the restriction in trade due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the Warsaw-based agency said.
Sales of textiles, clothing and footwear dropped 49.6% annually in March. Sales of motor vehicles, motorcycles and parts declined 30.9% and those of newspapers, books, and furniture, radios and TVs decreased 21.4% and 16.7%, respectively. On a monthly basis, retail sales decreased 3.3% in March, GUS said on April 22.