Eurozone: Retail sales growth is lower than expected

Eurozone retail sales rose less than expected in January, according to Eurostat data, mainly due to lower fuel sales and lower food costs, as inflation climbed more than 5% and hit purchasing power. consumers.

The European Union’s statistics office said retail sales in the eurozone rose 0.2% month-on-month and 7.8% year-on-year.

Economists expected a monthly increase of 1.3% and an annual 9.1%.

Food sales were unchanged in January compared to December, while car fuel sales fell 1.3%, keeping the monthly index.

Compared to January 2021, the value of gasoline sales was still 12.7% higher, but online sales fell 6.7%, and food, beverage and tobacco sales were 1.7% lower.

As an indication of consumer demand, sales figures showed large differences between euro area countries.

Sales in Slovenia rose 32.3% year-on-year in January, while in Finland they fell 2.4%.

In Belgium, sales increased by 0.3% on an annual basis, while in Germany they increased by 10.3%.

Source: Capital

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