Eurozone retail sales near stagnant in July
(BRUSSELS) - Retail sales across the 16 nations sharing the euro rose by a modest 0.1 percent in July, after a 0.2 percent increase in June, with drops in Germany and Spain, European Union data showed Friday.
Portugal posted the highest monthly increase with a gain of 3.0 percent, followed by 2.9 percent in Malta and 2.2 percent in France, according to the Eurostat statistics agency.
Retail sales fell by 3.0 percent in Spain and 0.3 percent in Germany.
Sales in food, drinks and tobacco grew by 0.3 percent across the eurozone while non-food products excluding fuel fell by 0.1 percent.
Across the wider, 27-nation EU, retail sales also rose by 0.1 percent, after a 0.3 percent increase in June, with a gain of 1.1 percent in Britain, which does not use the euro.
The biggest drop was in Romania, with a fall of 10.5 percent.
On a 12-month comparison, the July sales figures rose by 1.1 percent in the eurozone and 1.0 percent in the entire EU.
Volume of retail trade up by 0.1% in both euro area and EU27 [Eurostat]
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