In May 2012, compared with May 2011, among the Member States for which data are available, total retail trade rose in twelve and fell in nine.
The highest increases were observed in Estonia (+10.4%), Latvia (+7.4%) and Romania (+5.9%) and the largest decreases in Malta (-7.3%), Portugal (-5.1%) and Spain (-4.8%).
In May 2012 compared with April 2012, the volume of retail trade rose by 0.6% in both the euro area (EA17) and the EU27. In April retail trade fell by 1.4% in both zones.
In May 2012, compared with May 2011, the retail sales index dropped by 1.7% in the euro area and by 0.3% in the EU27.
Monthly comparison
In May 2012, compared with April 2012, “Food, drinks and tobacco” increased by 0.2% in both the euro area and the EU27. The non food sector rose by 1.0% and 0.9% respectively.
Among the Member States for which data are available, total retail trade rose in sixteen, remained unchanged in Denmark and fell in four. The highest increases were registered in Austria (+3.1%), Portugal (+2.9%), Latvia (+2.1%), Finland (+1.9%) and Ireland (+1.7%). The decreases were observed in Poland (-1.3%), Slovenia (-1.0%), Bulgaria and Germany (both -0.3%). Malta stood at 0.5%.
Annual comparison
In May 2012, compared with May 2011, “Food, drinks and tobacco” decreased by 1.1% in the euro area and by 0.4% in the EU27. The non food sector fell by 1.5% in the euro area, but rose by 0.5% in the EU27.
These first estimates come from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.