Total retail sales volumes in February 2023 were down 3.1% on the same period last year across the European Union, new data from Eurostat has revealed.
This compares to a 1.6% year-on-year decline in January, and a 2.5% decline in December, the data showed.
With regard to the food, drinks and tobacco segment, retail trade volumes were down 4.9% year-on-year in February, compared to a 4.5% decline in January and a 6.1% decline in December.
Non-food products (except automative fuel) saw a 1.9% decline in volume sales in February, while automative fuel sales were 0.1% higher.
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Double-Digit Decline In Hungary
The biggest decline in volume sales for the month of February was reported in Hungary, were sales were down 10.1% for the month (year-on-year). Sweden reported a 8.5% decline in sales meanwhile, with Germany down 7.0% and Belgium down 6.1%.
In terms of sales growth, Cyprus led the way, reporting a 8.3% increase in volume sales (year-on-year), while Luxembourg was up 6.8%, and Spain rose by 4.7%.
Eurostat's index of the volume of retail trade measures the evolution of the turnover in retail trade, adjusted for price changes (deflated), i.e. the evolution of the total amount of goods sold, based on data adjusted for calendar and seasonal effects.
On a month-on-month basis, i.e. compared to January, total retail sales in the European Union were down 0.9%, with the food, drinks and tobacco segment seeing a 0.6% decline.
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© 2023 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest Retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.