HELSINKI: Sales decreased in total trade by 3.3 per cent year-on-year in March 2016, according to Statistics Finland. Retail trade sales fell by 0.8 per cent in March from March 2015. Sales in department stores contracted by 3.4 per cent whereas daily consumer goods sales went up by 2.0 per cent.
Among the main sectors of trade, sales contracted most in wholesale trade, in total by 6.2 per cent from one year ago. In turn, motor vehicle sales grew by 2.5 per cent. The volume of retail trade sales grew by 0.9 per cent. Sales volume in motor vehicle trade grew by 2.3 per cent during the same period. In turn, the sales volume in wholesale trade decreased by 3.0 per cent from the previous year. The volume of total sales, however, contracted by 0.9 per cent year-on-year in March.
Sales in retail trade and wholesale trade went down in January to March compared with January to March 2015. Retail trade sales fell by 0.3 per cent and wholesale trade sales by 3.2 per cent. In turn, the sales volume in motor vehicle trade increased by 7.6 per cent from one year back. Total trade sales went down by 0.8 per cent over the corresponding period as per the statistics.
