Retail sales across the euro zone rose by a modest 0.1% in July, after a 0.2% increase in June, with drops in Germany and Spain, European Union data showed today.
Portugal posted the highest monthly increase with a gain of 3%, followed by 2.9% in Malta and 2.2% in France, according to the Eurostat statistics agency. Retail sales fell by 3% in Spain and 0.3% in Germany.
Sales in food, drinks and tobacco grew by 0.3% across the euro zone while non-food products excluding fuel fell by 0.1%.
Across the wider 27-nation EU, retail sales also rose by 0.1%, after a 0.3% increase in June, with a gain of 1.1% in Britain, which does not use the euro. The biggest drop was in Romania, with a fall of 10.5%.
On a 12-month comparison, the July sales figures rose by 1.1% in the euro zone and 1% in the entire EU.
