Retail trade - March 2026

Sales in retail trade, except of motor vehicles¹⁾ increased in real terms by 1.2%, month‑on‑month, in March. Sales from sale of food increased by 1.8%, sales from sale of non-food goods by 1.0%, and sales from sale of automotive fuel by 0.1%.  

Year-on-year, sales in retail trade increased in real terms by 4.9% in March. Sales from sale of non-food goods increased by 5.5%, sales from sale of food increased by 4.8%, and sales from sale of automotive fuel by 2.6%. 

“Retail sales adjusted for price effects continued to grow, year-on-year, in March. Higher sales were recorded in all groups of stores, except for retail sale of clothing, footwear and leather goods in specialised stores. Retail sale via mail order houses or via Internet and retail sale in non-specialised stores with food, beverages or tobacco predominating contributed the most to the year-on-year increase in sales in retail trade,” Jana Gotvaldová, Head of the Trade, Transport, and Services Statistics Unit of the Czech Statistical Office (CZSO), says.

Sales increased, year-on-year, in the following: retail sale of cosmetic and toilet articles in specialised stores by 7.5%, in dispensing chemist in specialised stores and in retail sale of medical and orthopaedic goods in specialised stores by 6.8%, retail sale of cultural and recreation goods in specialised stores by 1.4%, retail sale of other household equipment in specialised stores by 1.0%, and retail sale of information and communication equipment in specialised stores by 0.3%. On the other hand, sales decreased in retail sale of clothing, footwear and leather goods in specialised stores by 0.5%. Sales in non-specialised stores with food, beverages or tobacco predominating increased by 5.2% and in retail sale of food, beverages and tobacco in specialised stores by 0.6%. In other retail sale in non‑specialised stores, sales increased by 6.6%. In retail sale via mail order houses or via Internet²⁾ sales increased by 13.4%.

Sales for sale and repair of motor vehicles³⁾ stagnated in real terms, m-o-m. In the year-on-year comparison, sales increased by 2.0%; sales for sale of motor vehicles (including spare parts) increased by 2.2% and sales for repair of motor vehicles by 1.2%.

International comparison of retail sales development in Member States of the EU is available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/short-term-business-statistics/publications.

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¹⁾ CZ-NACE 47 – retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles
²⁾ CZ-NACE 4791 – retail sale via mail order houses or via Internet
³⁾ CZ-NACE 45 – wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles