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

According to data released by the European Union’s statistics office Eurostat, retail sales in the eurozone fell in October on a monthly basis while they rose on a yearly basis.

Eurostat’s data shows that retail sales decreased by 1.1% on a monthly basis in October following the 0.8% increase in September. This decrease was reportedly driven by the decline in food, drinks and tobacco by 1.3%, in non-food products by 1.1% and in automotive fuel by 0.1%.

Among member states, the largest contribution to the monthly decline in retail sales came from Luxembourg (5.3%), Portugal (2.3%) and Austria (1.9%) while the largest increases were recorded in Romania (1%), the United Kingdom (0.9%), Poland and Slovakia (both 0.6%).

However, the data showed that eurozone retail sales slightly increased in October on an annual basis by 0.4% on the back of the rises in the sales of non-food products by 0.6%, in automotive fuel by 0.3% and in food, drinks and tobacco by 0.2%.

Among member states, the largest contribution to the annual increase in retail sales came from Romania (12.6%), Poland (7.1%), Ireland, Hungary and Malta (all 6.3%) while decreases were observed in Luxembourg (27.0%), Austria (2.2%) and Belgium (2.1%).