Data from Eurostat showed that retail sales rose by 0.8% in March, offsetting the February decline (-0.3%, revised from -0.5%). It was the sharpest increase since September of 2022. Economists had expected an increase by 0.6%. In annual terms, retail sales rose by 0.7%, recording the first increase in 18 months. Meanwhile, the February drop was revised down to -0.5% from -0.7%. Consensus estimates suggested a 0.3% drop. As for the EU countries, retail sales rose by 1.2% on a monthly basis and by 2.0% compared to March 2023.
The data showed that in the eurozone, compared with February, the volume of retail trade increased for food, drinks, tobacco by 1.2%, remained stable for non-food products (except automotive fuel) and increased for automotive fuel in specialized (+2.0%).
The annual growth in retail sales in the eurozone was caused by an increase in sales of food, drinks, tobacco by 1.1% and non-food products (except automotive fuel) by 0.8%. Meanwhile, sales of automotive fuel in specialized stores fell by 0.6%.
As for the EU countries, the highest annual increases in the total retail trade volume were recorded in Poland (+14.8%), Luxembourg (+10.3%) and Croatia (+8.9%). The largest decreases were observed in Belgium (-4.6%), Estonia (-2.3%) and Austria (-2.0%).