Estonia's retail sales are the best in the hard-hit Baltic states. Photo by Kalev Kevad.
TALLINN — Estonia and Lithuania registered the third and fourth largest month-on-month increase in retail sales in the European Union in May, while Latvia remains in the doldrums.
Of those countries whose data was available for Eurostat, total retail trade increased in thirteen and declined in six European Union member states. The smallest Baltic State, Estonia came on third with 1.7 percent month-on-month increase while Lithuania tied Sweden for fourth with a 1.6 percent increase. They were beaten by Denmark with 3.8 percent and Poland 3.5 with percent. Latvia was on the other side of the scale with, posting -0.4 percent month-on-month.
However, annually all three Baltic states are still down, with Estonia’s ebbing the quickest mostly due to consumers worried that prices will increase after the euro is adopted in 2011. Year-on-year Estonia is -2.2 percent, while Latvia is at -8.4 percent and Lithuania at -10.7 percent. Persistently high unemployment, intensive austerity measures and tight credit from banks is putting the damper on a the recovery of the retail sector to pre-crisis levels.
The volume of retail trade in the eurozone increased by 0.2 percent month-on-month in the eurozone area of 16 countries and by 0.4 percent in the European Union overall, with similar numbers for year-on-year.
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