According to the report from Eurostat, retail sales increased by 0.2% in January after falling by 2.7% in December (revised from -3.0%). Economists had expected sales to increase by 1.3%. In annual terms, retail sales growth accelerated to 7.8% from 2.1% in December (revised from 2%). Consensus estimates suggested an increase in sales by 9.1% per annum.
The data showed that sales of non-food products increased by 0.2% compared to December, while sales of food, beverages and tobacco products did not change. Meanwhile, sales of motor fuel decreased by 1.3% compared to December.
Eurostat reported that the increase in annual terms was caused by an increase in sales of non-food products (+14.8%) and motor fuel (+12.7%). Meanwhile, sales of food, beverages and tobacco products fell by 1.7% per annum.
As for the countries of the European Union, the highest annual increases in the total retail trade volume were registered in Slovenia (+32.3%), Poland (+19.5%) and Lithuania (+18.2%). The only decrease was observed in Finland (-2.4%).