BRUSSELS, Oct 6 (Reuters) – Euro zone retail sales fell in August, data showed on Thursday, pointing to a weakness in consumer demand and underlining expectations of an approaching recession.
The European Union’s statistics office Eurostat said retail sales in the 19 countries sharing the euro fell 0.3% month-on-month for a 2.0% year-on-year drop.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected a 0.4% monthly fall and a 1.7% year-on-year decline.
The fall in retail sales, seen as a proxy for consumer demand, underlines economists’ expectations that the euro zone is likely to go in to a recession in the coming quarters, hit by the energy price shock created by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The sales decline in August came despite a sharp rise in the volume of sales of car fuels during the holiday season, which rose 3.2% month-on-month and 5.1% year-on-year, but failed to offset falling sales of food and drinks and internet or mail order shopping.
Non-food retail sales overall did rise by 0.2% in August, although that was down 3.0% from a year earlier.
The European Union’s statistics office Eurostat released the following data on retail sales in the euro zone in August.
Volume of retail trade
% change compared with the previous month*
Mar 22
Apr 22
May 22
Jun 22
Jul 22
Aug 22
Euro area
Total retail trade
0.3
-0.4
0.1
-1.0
-0.4
-0.3
Food, drinks, tobacco
1.0
-1.7
-0.8
-0.1
-0.2
-0.8
Non-food products (except automotive fuel), of which:
-0.4
-0.5
1.7
-1.7
-0.7
0.2
Mail orders and internet
-3.0
1.8
-0.1
-1.9
4.3
-3.8
Automotive fuel in specialised stores
-0.8
1.5
0.0
-1.0
0.6
3.2
Volume of retail trade
% change compared with the same month of the previous year*
Mar 22
Apr 22
May 22
Jun 22
Jul 22
Aug 22
Euro area
Total retail trade
1.8
4.4
0.7
-3.0
-1.2
-2.0
Food, drinks, tobacco
-2.8
-3.4
-3.9
-2.7
-2.2
-2.0
Non-food products (except automotive fuel), of which:
4.5
9.2
3.1
-3.8
-1.3
-3.0
Mail orders and internet
-12.7
-12.1
-11.0
-10.6
1.8
-6.0
Automotive fuel in specialised stores
10.9
15.7
5.9
1.3
0.7
5.1
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 0.4% m/m drop and 1.7% y/y fall for euro zone retail sales in August.
