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Sales continued to drop for food, beverages and tobacco by 17%, for non-food products by 5.7% and for fuel by 18.5%. On the other hand, on-line sales jumped 43.1%, following a 22.2% surge in the prior month. On a monthly basis, retail trade advanced 2.6%, after an upwardly revised 2% gain in July.

In a separate statement, the Sofia-based statistics agency said that industrial output decreased by 5.7% on the year in August, following a decline of 6.1% in the previous month. On a seasonally-adjusted monthly comparison basis, industrial production rose 0.7% in August after a 2.1% rise in July.

Another report by NSI shows that construction output in Bulgaria dropped an annual 4.9% in August, following an upwardly revised 4% fall in the previous month. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, construction output went down 0.1%, after falling an upwardly 0.5% in the prior month.