Eurozone retail sales growth below forecast

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Eurozone retail sales grew 0.3% month-on-month in January, a slower pace than market estimated, according to data released on Monday.

The volume of retail trade was expected to grow 1% in January, following a downwardly revised 1.7% decline in December 2022, the Eurostat data showed.

Sales of food, drinks and tobacco and non-food products increased 1.8% and 0.8%, respectively, from the previous month.

On the other hand, automotive fuels sales fell 1.5% in January.

On an annual basis, retail sales in the single-currency zone shrank by 2.3%.

For the EU, retail sales also rose 0.3% in January from a month ago.

Among the 27-member bloc, the Netherlands registered the largest monthly hike with 4.9%, followed by Luxembourg with 4.6% and Slovenia with 4.1%.

The largest declines were seen in Austria (down 9.8%), Slovakia (down 1.4%) and Hungary (down 0.6%)

Compared to a year ago, the EU's retail sales dropped 2.2% in January, data showed.