Retail Volumes Fall By 1.2% In Europe

The volume of retail trade in both the euro area and the EU27 decreased by 1.2% in April 2010 compared with March 2010. The retail sales index for April 2010 compared with April 2009 was 1.5% in the euro area and 1.6% in the EU27.

The food sector in the euro area fell by 1.1% and 1.4% in the EU27 over the month to April 2010 and the non-food sector by 1.1% and 1.2% respectively. Total retail trade fell in 14 countries and rose in 5 given the data available. The biggest falls were in Poland -8.7%, Denmark -8.6%, Slovakia -3.6% and Spain -2.1%. The highest risers were Belgium with 1.8% and Germany with 1%.

Over the last year from April 2009 to April 2010 the food sector fell by 1.8% in the euro area and 2.7% in the EU27 and non-food fell by 1.1% in the euro area but rose slightly by 0.1% in the EU27. Given the national data available, among the member states, the index fell in 15 countries and rose in 4. Bulgaria and Lithuania both fell 11.7%, Denmark -8.3% and Latvia fell 7.7%. Malta's index rose by 8.7% and Belgium's by 0.7%. Statistics from Eurostat.