Eurozone retail sales down on month, up on year in Dec

According to data released by the European Union’s statistics office Eurostat, retail sales in the Euro zone fell in December month-on-month while it rose on a yearly basis.

Eurostat’s data shows that retail sales decreased by 0.3% on a monthly basis in December following the 0.4% decrease in November. This decrease was reportedly driven by the decline in automotive fuel by 1.1% and in food, drinks and tobacco by 0.4%.

Among member states, the largest contribution to the monthly decline in retail sales came from Finland (3.2%), the United Kingdom (2.8%), Ireland and Sweden (both 2.7%) while the largest increases were recorded in Luxembourg (1.9%), Belgium (1.1%) and France (0.8%).

However, the data showed that Eurozone retail sales increased in December on an annual basis by 1.1% in December on the back of the rises in the sales of non-food products by 2.1% and in food, drinks and tobacco by 0.7%.

Among member states, annual decreases were recorded in Finland (2.2%), Germany (1.1%), Denmark and Austria (both 1%) and Malta (0.7%) while the largest increases were recorded in Luxembourg (14.7%), Slovenia (10.1%), Romania (7.9%) and the United Kingdom (6.6%).