Eurozone retail trade drops

The volume of retail trade in both the eurozone and the EU28 went down by 0.4% in July compared with June, according to the estimates of Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

However, the retail sales index went up by 0.8% compared with July 2013, data also showed.

Looking at sector breakdown, the drop was due to a 0.6% fall in food, drinks and tobacco and 0.2% for the non-food sector, while automative fuel rose by 0.5%.

The largest decreases in total retail trade were registered in Austria (-1.5%), Germany (-1.4%) and Sweden (-1.3%). The highest increases were instead registered in Portugal (+2.6%) and Latvia (+2.2%).