BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - Eurozone retail sales expanded in May, primarily driven by food store sales, data from Eurostat showed Monday.
Retail sales increased 0.2 percent on a monthly basis in May, reversing a 0.3 percent fall in April. The increase came in line with expectations.
The monthly growth was driven by a 0.6 percent rise in food, drink and tobacco sales. Non-food product sales grew only 0.1 percent. Meanwhile, automotive fuel sales in specialized stores decreased 0.5 percent.
On a yearly basis, retail sales growth accelerated to 1.6 percent from 0.9 percent in April. This exceeded economists' forecast of 1.5 percent annual growth.
Retail sales in the EU27 rebounded 0.5 percent on a monthly comparison after falling 0.6 percent in April. At the same time, annual growth doubled to 1.9 percent from 0.8 percent.
Among member states for which data are available, the highest annual increases in the total retail trade volume were recorded in Cyprus, Bulgaria and Luxembourg. Meanwhile, decreases were observed in Romania, Estonia and Belgium.
Copyright(c) 2026 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2026 AFX News
