According to the report from Eurostat, retail sales increased by 1% in November after an increase by 0.3% in October (revised from +0.2%). Economists had expected a 0.5% decline. Meanwhile, in annual terms, retail sales growth accelerated to 7.8% from 1.7% in October (revised from +1.4%), Economists had expected an increase by 5.6%. Overall, the data suggest that consumer demand remains stable even after the introduction of new restrictions related to the pandemic.
Eurostat reported that the acceleration in sales growth in monthly terms was due to an increase in sales of non-food products (+1.6%), as well as food, beverages and tobacco products (+0.6%), while sales of motor fuel fell by 1.5% compared to October.
Meanwhile, the stronger year-on-year growth was due to an increase in sales of motor fuel (+19.5%), non-food products (+11.8%), as well as food, beverages and tobacco products (+0.9%).
Among the Member States, the largest sales growth compared to November 2020 was registered in Slovenia (+41.1%), France (+22.7%) and Poland (+14.5%). The decrease was observed in Latvia (-3.6%), Germany (-2.8%) and Finland (-1.9%).