Eurozone's retail trade volume up in November

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - The eurozone retail trade volume rose 1% month-on-month in November 2019, the EU's statistical office announced on Tuesday.

The figure also rose 0.6% in the EU28 in November compared to October 2019, Eurostat said.

In October, the retail trade volume fell 0.3% from September in the eurozone and 0.2% in the EU28.

The eurozone/euro area represents member states that use the single currency -- euro -- while the EU28 includes all member countries of the bloc.

In the euro area, "The volume of retail trade increased by 1.4% for non-food products and by 0.7% for food, drinks and tobacco, while automotive fuels decreased by 1.0%," in November, versus October.

In the EU28 side, retail trade soared 0.9% for non-food products, 0.5% for food, drinks and tobacco, while it decreased 0.8% for automotive fuels.

Among member states for which data are available, Poland (3.3%) posted the largest rise in the total retail trade volume, followed by Belgium (2.7%) and Latvia (2.6%), the statistical office said.

"The largest decreases were observed in the U.K. (-1.7%), Ireland (-0.9%) and Finland (-0.5%)," it added.

Meanwhile, Eurostat said that the eurozone's annual inflation is expected to be 1.3% in the last month, increasing from 1% in November 2019.