The DZS reported that retail trade turnover in April contracted by 7.8 percent in nominal terms and by 8.0 percent in real terms in comparison to April 2009.
An earlier survey conducted by Hina among five macro-economists has shown that they expected a fall in retail trade turnover of the average 4.3 percent last month.
In March, consumption contracted by 2.8 percent, which was the lowest percentage in the last 19 months.
"These figures reflect a still high level of consumer pessimism and low domestic demand," said Zrinka Zivkovic Matijevic, a Raiffeisen Consulting analyst, pointing out stagnation in retail banking activity.