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Eurozone retail sales down by 0.5 pct in March

Xinhua, May 5, 2016 Adjust font size:

The seasonally adjusted volume of retail trade fell by 0.5 percent in the 19-country euro area and by 0.7 percent in the wider European Union (EU) in March, compared to the previous month, Eurostat said on Wednesday.

The statistics agency said the 0.5 percent decrease is due to falls of 1.3 percent for "food, drinks and tobacco", of 0.5 percent for non-food products and of 0.4 percent for automotive fuel.

"This means that the quarter ended on a weak note for retail, after two strong months at the start of the year. The dip in consumer confidence because of uncertainty about the global economy and higher oil prices is starting to weigh on the strong domestic spending in the Eurozone," said Bert Colijn, senior economist at ING, a Dutch multinational banking and financial services corporation.

Among member states, the largest decreases in total retail trade were observed in Portugal at minus 5.2 percent, while the highest increases were registered in Finland at 1.1 percent.

The March retail sales data are a warning sign that this is unlikely to be the start of a more robust recovery in the Eurozone, Colijn added. Endit