European Retail Trade Up 1.6% In January

European retail volumes were up by 1.6% in the euro area in January compared with December 2013 according to Eurostat. The EU28 reported increases of 0.9%. In January 2014 compared with January 2013 retail trade increased by 1.3% and 1.9% respectively.

The increase in the monthly comparison in the euro area is due mainly to increases in the non-food sector of 1.9%, 1.5% for automotive fuel and 1.1% for food, drinks and tobacco. In the EU 28 the rise is due to an increase of 1.4% for automotive fuel, 1.3% for non-food sector and 0.3% for food, drinks and tobacco.

The main contributors to the 1.3% increase in the volume of retail trade in the annual comparison in the euro area were increases of 2.9% for automotive fuel, 2.5% in the non-food sector while food drinks and tobacco fell by 0.4%. In the EU28 the 0.9% increase was due to increases of 3.6% in the non-food sector, 2.1% in automotive fuel and 0.1% in food, drinks and tobacco.