Eurozone Retail Sales Fall Slightly

(RTTNews) - Eurozone retail sales dropped marginally in March as reduced food and auto fuel sales were partially offset by the increased non-food product sales, official data revealed Thursday.

Retail sales dropped 0.1 percent on a monthly basis in March, marking the third consecutive fall, Eurostat reported. However, this was slower than the 0.3 percent decrease posted in February. Sales were expected to drop again by 0.3 percent in March.

Sales of food, drinks and tobacco decreased 0.3 percent and that of automotive fuel in specialised stores slid 1.6 percent. Meanwhile, non-food product sales expanded 0.6 percent.

Year-on-year, growth in retail sales slowed slightly to 1.2 percent from 1.3 percent in February. Nonetheless, the rate surpassed forecast of 1.0 percent.

In the EU27, retail sales grew at a slower pace of 0.3 percent from the prior month. On a yearly basis, sales growth accelerated to 1.9 percent from 1.3 percent.

Among member states of EU, the highest annual increases in the total retail trade volume were recorded in Bulgaria, Hungary and Malta. Meanwhile, decreases were seen in Romania and Germany.