Euro area retail sales fall 0.7% in September, led by non-food products - Anadolu Ajansı

Retail sales volume in the euro area fell 0.7% month-on-month in September, exceeding market expectations of a 0.1% decline, according to Eurostat data released Friday.

The decrease followed a 0.4% rise in August, with falling sales of non-food products leading the downturn.

Across the EU, seasonally adjusted retail trade volume declined 0.6% in September after increasing 0.4% the previous month.

In the euro area, sales of non-food products, excluding automotive fuel, dropped 1.2%, while food, drinks and tobacco sales decreased 0.3%. Automotive fuel sales at specialized stores rose 1%.

The EU recorded a similar pattern, with non-food sales falling 1% and food, drinks and tobacco sales declining 0.4%. Automotive fuel sales edged up 0.1%.

Among member states with available data, Germany registered the steepest monthly decline at 2%, followed by Romania at 1.3% and Portugal at 0.9%.

Luxembourg posted the strongest increase at 5.3%, ahead of Slovakia at 2.2% and Malta at 1.5%.

On an annual basis, retail sales volume increased 0.4% in the euro area and 0.9% in the EU, slowing from growth of 1.3% and 1.7%, respectively, in August.

Euro area food, drinks and tobacco sales rose 1.1% from September last year, while non-food sales increased 0.7%. Automotive fuel sales fell 3%.

Across the EU, food, drinks and tobacco sales grew 1% and non-food sales increased 1.2%, while automotive fuel sales declined 2.3%.

Greek Cypriot Administration recorded the largest annual increase in total retail trade volume at 7.6%, followed by Sweden at 6.9% and Bulgaria at 5.7%.

The sharpest annual declines were recorded in Germany at 2.4%, Romania at 2.3% and Spain at 1.5%.