Eurozone retail sales rise for third straight month

Retail sales in the eurozone rose for the third straight month in September as strong gains in non-food products and fuel made up for declining sales for food, drinks, tobacco.

According to Eurostat, the volume of retail trade across the single-currency region was 0.5% higher than August, when sales jumped by a revised 1.1%.

The consensus forecast was for an increase of just 0.4%.

Food, drinks and tobacco sales were down 0.4% over the month, following a 1.1% increase in August. However, non-food products sales (excluding fuel) gained 1.1% (previous: +1.2%) and sales of automotive fuel in specialised stores rose 0.2% (previous: +1.3%).

In terms of the region's two largest economies, Germany's retail sector saw a 1.2% improvement in sales, in line with August, but sales in France pulled back by 0.5% after a 2.6% surge the month before.

When compared with September 2023, overall eurozone retail sales were 2.9% higher, picking up from a revised 2.4% annual gain in August. This was the highest rate of year-on-year growth since April 2022.