Eurozone Retail Sales Fall More Than Forecast

(RTTNews) - Eurozone retail sales declined more than expected in April reflecting decreases in non-food and auto fuel sales, data from Eurostat showed Thursday.

Retail sales fell 0.4 percent on a monthly basis in April, in contrast to the 0.8 percent rise in March. Sales were expected to drop 0.3 percent.

Sales of food, drinks and tobacco increased 0.9 percent from the last month. Meanwhile, sales of non-food products and automotive fuel in specialised stores decreased 0.9 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively.

On a yearly basis, retail sales growth eased to 1.0 percent from 2.1 percent in March. Retail sales in the EU27 dropped 0.5 percent in April from the previous month but increased 0.9 percent from the last year.

The largest monthly decreases in the total retail trade volume were recorded in Denmark, Romania, Belgium and Slovakia. Meanwhile, increases were seen in Lithuania, Malta and France.