Euro area retail sales rebound in September

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) – Euro area retail sales rebounded in September after stagnating a month ago, the EU's statistical office revealed on Tuesday.

The volume of retail trade rose 0.4% month-on-month in the euro area, showed the Eurostat data.

Sales of food, drinks and tobacco and non-food products increased 0.4% and 1%, respectively, from a month ago. On the other hand, automotive fuel sales decreased 0.6% in September.

On an annual basis, retail sales in the single currency zone fell 0.6% from September 2021.

For the EU, retail sales also grew 0.4% in September from the previous month.

Among the 27-member states, Austria posted the largest monthly hike with 3.9%, followed by Malta with 1.7% and Poland with 1.4%.

The largest decreases were seen in Slovenia (3.7%), Ireland and Portugal (both down 2.0%), and Slovakia (1.3%).

Compared to a year ago, the EU's retail sales dropped 0.3% this September, data showed.

According to an upwardly revised data from Eurostat, eurozone retail sales were unchanged at August following contractions of 1.1% in June and 0.2% in July.