In April 2018, both the value and volume of retail trade show a fall respectively of -4.6% and -5.4% comparing to April 2017, following strong growth in March 2018.

Notwithstanding the monthly volatility, looking at the underlying pattern, the 3 months to April picture reports a slight decline as value decreased by 0.5% and volume contracted by 0.2%.

In April 2018, the indices of retail trade saw a monthly recession, with value falling by 0.7% and volume dropping by 0.9%.

While both large scale distribution and small scale distribution strongly decreased when compared to April 2017, the online sales increased year-on-year by 16.2%.