Euro area retail volume fell 0.6 per cent month on month in July, while the EU recorded a 0.4 per cent decline. Non-food goods and fuel contracted as food, drinks and tobacco increased. Germany posted a monthly drop of 3.4 per cent, while Latvia and Cyprus grew. Total sales volumes in both areas remained above their year-earlier levels.
Euro area retail sales volume declined 0.6 per cent in July compared with June. Across the EU, the contraction was 0.4 per cent. The first estimates describe the monthly movement in sales volume adjusted for price changes. Expectations had pointed to a 0.3 per cent increase in the euro area, but the result was a decline. Total retail volumes in both areas were below the previous month, although product categories did not all move in the same direction.[1], [2]
In the euro area, non-food sales volume fell 1.4 per cent over the month. Motor fuel sales decreased 0.8 per cent, while food, drinks and tobacco recorded a 0.4 per cent increase. The rise in the food category was not enough to prevent the overall decline. Two of these main product groups contracted and one expanded during the same month, showing different sales movements beneath the aggregate retail result.[1]
Germany recorded a 3.4 per cent monthly decline in retail volume, while Spain fell 0.9 per cent. Latvia rose 2.5 per cent and Cyprus increased 2.0 per cent. Compared with a year earlier, total volume increased 0.6 per cent in the euro area and 1.0 per cent across the EU. Cyprus grew 8.6 per cent annually, Latvia 7.1 per cent and Sweden 6.4 per cent; Romania fell 5.7 per cent and Germany 2.5 per cent.[1]
