Euro zone retail sales weaker than expected in January

BRUSSELS, March 6 (Reuters) – Euro zone retail sales rebounded much less than expected month-on-month in January and were still lower than 12 months earlier, underlining the weakness of consumer demand in euro zone and the broader economic slowdown, data showed on Monday.

The European Union’s statistics office Eurostat said retail sales in the 20 countries sharing the euro rose 0.3% month-on-month in January for a 2.3% year-on-year decline.

This fell well short of expectations of economists polled by Reuters, who forecast a 1.0% month-on-month rise and a 1.8% year-on-year fall.

Economists see retail sales as a good proxy indicator for consumer demand, which has suffered because of rampant inflation, triggered mainly by rising energy and food prices, but also seeping into other sectors of the economy.

Volume of retail trade

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

	Aug 22	Sep 22	Oct 22	Nov 22	Dec 22	Jan 23
Euro area
Total retail trade	-0.1	0.9	-1.4	0.7	-1.7*	0.3
Food, drinks, tobacco	-0.7	0.5	-1.3	-0.5	-2.1	1.8
Non-food products (except automotive fuel), of which:	0.3	1.4	-2.0	1.7	-2.5	0.8
Mail orders and internet	-4.0	3.0	-1.5	-0.3	-3.6	-2.9
Automotive fuel in specialised stores	1.9	-0.6	-0.1	0.8	0.5	-1.5
EU
Total retail trade	0.0	0.8	-1.3	0.8	-1.6	0.3
Food, drinks, tobacco	-0.6	0.3	-1.1	-0.3	-2.4	1.8
Non-food products (except automotive fuel), of which:	0.2	1.4	-1.9	1.6	-2.5	1.1
Mail orders and internet	-3.3	2.7	-1.2	-0.1	-3.5	-2.6
Automotive fuel in specialised stores	1.9	0.1	0.1	0.9	0.8	-2.1

* The monthly percentage change for December 2022 has been revised from -2.7% to -1.6% in the euro area (EA19)

Volume of retail trade

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

	Aug 22	Sep 22	Oct 22	Nov 22	Dec 22	Jan 23
Euro area
Total retail trade	-1.3	0.1	-2.5	-2.5	-2.8	-2.3
Food, drinks, tobacco	-1.3	-2.0	-3.9	-4.5	-6.4	-5.0
Non-food products (except automotive fuel), of which:	-2.2	0.8	-2.3	-2.0	-0.9	-1.0
Mail orders and internet	-5.5	-1.6	-5.2	-7.1	-6.9	-10.1
Automotive fuel in specialised stores	4.7	3.6	2.1	3.7	3.9	5.4
EU
Total retail trade	-0.9	0.3	-2.2	-2.0	-2.5	-2.2
Food, drinks, tobacco	-0.9	-1.8	-3.5	-3.9	-6.1	-4.7
Non-food products (except automotive fuel), of which:	-1.9	0.8	-2.3	-1.7	-1.0	-1.0
Mail orders and internet	-4.7	-0.8	-3.9	-6.2	-6.3	-9.4
Automotive fuel in specialised stores	5.1	4.8	3.2	5.0	5.9	5.6

For Eurostat release, click on:

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