French retail sales sank 24% in March from February as a nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic left many shops shuttered, data from the central bank showed on Wednesday, Trend reports with reference to Reuters.
Sales of industrial goods were down over 43% while food sales fell only 0.9%, the Bank of France said.
The March freefall meant that retail sales fell 7.2% in the first quarter from the previous free months, with small retail outlets seeing a plunge of 9.6% and large general retailers seeing an increase 1.7%.
More specifically, supermarket sales grew by 7.4% in the quarter and hypermarkets saw an increase of 1.7%, offsetting a 19.3% drop in department store sales, the central bank said.