Retail had a huge March as panic buying of toilet paper and other supplies ramped up, but the surge was more than reversed in April, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics seasonally adjusted estimates.

Turnover jumped from $575.2 million in February to $626.2 million in March and plummeted to $516.5 million in April.

National retail took an even harder hit in April, dropping by 17.7 per cent.

"COVID-19 continued to affect retail trade in April, with many retail businesses closing their physical stores during April due to restrictions relating to social distancing," ABS director of quarterly economy wide surveys Ben James said.

"There were record falls in cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services (35.4 per cent), and clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (53.6 per cent), as well as a large fall in department stores (14.9 per cent)."

The ABS said food retailing (17.4 per cent) led the falls in dollar terms in April after unprecedented demand in March.

"Spending in food retailing remains 5.1 per cent above the level of April 2019, likely reflecting additional meals being consumed at home during April 2020," it said.

Victoria (21.1 per cent) had the biggest monthly sales decline.

The closure of many retail stores pumped up online shopping.

Online sales accounted for 11.1 per cent of total turnover in April, up from 7.1 per cent in March and 5.7 per cent in April 2019.

In Tasmania, sales from cafes, restaurants and takeaway services slumped from $47 million in March to $27.8 million in April.

Sales of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and toiletries dropped from an especially strong and panic buying-driven $37.8 million to $28.6 million, which was below their recent average.

Clothing, footwear and personal accessories retailing was clobbered, dropping from $26.2 million to $10 million.

Sales from supermarkets and grocery stores went from $226.1 million in February to $267.8 million in March as hoarders of toilet paper and other goods emerged.

Their sales fell to a more normal $225.8 million in April.

A March surge in liquor turnover also looked to be a one-off.

Liquor sales went from $29.3 million in February to $35.9 million in March, before dropping back to $28.1 million in April.

Meanwhile, Tasmanian merchandise exports for overseas held up reasonably well in April, totalling $281 million in original terms.

That was the lowest total since April 2019.

However, it was only down by $6 million and sales to key market China of $119 million were about average and increased slightly compared to March.