Eurozone retail sales paint mixed picture

Eurozone retail sales declined less in September compared to the previous month than had been forecast, but year-on-year sales were lower than market expected.

The seasonally adjusted volume of retail trade among the 19 eurozone countries dropped 0.2% month-on-month, the same as the revised fall from August but better than the 0.3% fall estimated by economists.

Compared to September last year, retail sales rose 1.1%, according to estimates from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, which was worse than the revised 1.2% increase seen a month ago and short of the consensus estimate of 1.3%.

Eurostat said the 0.2% month-on-month decrease was mainly due to falls for non-food products and for automotive fuel, while food, drinks and tobacco segment rose by 0.6%.

Across the larger 28-state bloc of the European Union, there was a 0.1% decrease retail volumes, put mainly down to a fall in non-food products, while automotive fuel remained stable and food, drinks and tobacco rose by 0.5%.

The worse trade volumes were registered in Portugal, Slovenia and Germany, while the highest increases were seen in Estonia, Finland, Denmark and Poland.