Eurozone retail sales see steepest decline in 23 months

(Sharecast News) - Eurozone retail sales retreated more than expected in July, falling by their most in nearly two years, according to data out on Thursday from Eurostat. Seasonally adjusted retail trade volumes across the singe-currency region fell by 0.5% in July after a 0.6% increase in June, which marked the strongest monthly growth in 15 months.

July's decline was the steepest drop since August 2023 and was worse than the 0.2% fall expected by analysts.

Compared with July 2024, retail sales across the eurozone were up 2.2%, slowing from the 3.5% annual growth seen in June, missing the 2.4% consensus forecast.

According to Eurostat, food, drinks and tobacco sales declined by 1.1% over the month, while automotive fuel sales decreased 1.7%, which was only partially offset by a 0.2% increase in non-food products (excluding automotive fuel).



Among member states, Lithuania and Latvia saw the strongest rates of growth, at 1.5% and 1.4% respectively, while Croatia (-4.0%), Estonia (-2.0%) and Germany (-1.5%) saw the steepest declines.