Euro zone retail sales fall in Sept, exposing weak consumer demand

BRUSSELS, Nov 8 (Reuters) – Euro zone retail sales fell roughly in line with expectations in September, data showed on Wednesday, highlighting weak consumer demand and the prospect of recession.

The European Union’s statistics office Eurostat said retail sales in the 20 countries sharing the euro fell 0.3% month-on-month and by 2.9% year-on-year in September.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected declines of 0.2% in the month and 3.1% from a year earlier.

The monthly fall was caused mainly by a sharp drop in sales of non-food products, including online sales, both of which fell by 1.9% from August. Automotive fuel sales were also down 0.9%.

Year-on-year, the sales of fuel also declined sharply, as did online purchases.

The euro zone economy shrank by 0.1% in the three months to September, data showed last week, and a key purchasing managers’ survey showed the fourth quarter has got off to a poor start.

Volume of retail trade

% change compared with the previous month (calendar and seasonally adjusted)

	Apr 23	May 23	Jun 23	Jul 23	Aug 23	Sep 23
Euro area
Total retail trade	-0.1	0.4	0.0	-0.1	-0.7	-0.3
Food, drinks, tobacco	0.4	0.4	0.1	0.0	-0.4	1.4
Non-food products (except automotive fuel), of which:	0.2	0.5	0.2	0.2	-0.6	-1.9
Mail orders and internet	0.2	0.0	1.1	1.4	-2.0	-1.9
Automotive fuel in specialised stores	-2.3	0.9	-0.4	-0.5	-2.4	-0.9
EU
Total retail trade	0.0	0.3	0.0	-0.1	-0.5	-0.2
Food, drinks, tobacco	0.5	0.4	0.1	-0.1	-0.3	1.3
Non-food products (except automotive fuel), of which:	0.4	0.3	0.2	0.2	-0.4	-1.8
Mail orders and internet	0.5	0.0	1.0	2.0	-1.0	-1.4
Automotive fuel in specialised stores	-2.3	0.6	-0.6	-0.5	-1.9	0.1

Volume of retail trade

% change compared with the same month of the previous year (calendar adjusted)

	Apr 23	May 23	Jun 23	Jul 23	Aug 23	Sep 23
Euro area
Total retail trade	-2.8	-2.1	-0.8	-0.8	-1.8	-2.9
Food, drinks, tobacco	-4.4	-2.7	-2.6	-2.1	-2.4	-1.0
Non-food products (except automotive fuel), of which:	-1.2	-1.5	0.7	1.2	0.0	-3.4
Mail orders and internet	-3.7	-2.9	-1.7	0.5	-1.1	-4.2
Automotive fuel in specialised stores	-2.3	-0.9	-0.9	-1.6	-7.4	-7.5
EU
Total retail trade	-3.0	-2.4	-1.0	-1.1	-1.8	-2.7
Food, drinks, tobacco	-4.5	-2.8	-2.8	-2.3	-2.3	-0.9
Non-food products (except automotive fuel), of which:	-1.6	-1.9	0.4	0.9	0.0	-3.2
Mail orders and internet	-2.2	-1.9	-1.0	2.1	1.5	-1.5
Automotive fuel in specialised stores	-2.9	-2.0	-1.8	-2.5	-7.2	-6.9

For further details of Eurostat data click on:

https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/main/news/euro-indicators