Eurozone retail sales contract in September

By Tuba Ongun

ANKARA (AA) – Euro area retail sales edged down 0.2% month-on-month in September, slightly worse than economists' expectations, according to the latest data released on Wednesday.

The market forecast was a 0.3% monthly fall in September's reading, following an upwardly revised decline of 0.7% in August, the Eurostat data showed.

The volume of retail trade tumbled 1.9% for non-food products and by 0.9% for automotive fuels, while increased by 1.4% for food, drinks and tobacco.

On a yearly basis, retail sales in the euro area dropped at the fastest pace in six months by 2.9% in September, marking the 12th consecutive month of contraction.

The eurozone/euro area, or EA19, represents member states that use the bloc's single currency, the euro, while the EU27 includes all of its member countries.

For the EU, retail sales decreased by 0.2% in September compared to the previous month and 2.7% from a year ago.

The largest monthly decreases were in Slovakia (-2.0%), Sweden (-1.1%), Germany, and the Netherlands (both -0.8%).

On the flip side, Slovenia (1.1%), Poland (1.0%) and Denmark (0.9%) posted the largest monthly hikes.