Sales of non-food goods fell by 1.4% over the month. A 0.4% rise in sales of food, beverages and tobacco was not enough to offset this decline. Sales of motor fuel also fell by 0.8%, according to Reuters.
Across the EU as a whole, retail sales fell by 0.4 per cent. Turnover of non-food goods fell by 1.1 per cent, and fuel sales by 1.1 per cent, whilst sales of food, beverages and tobacco rose by 0.3 per cent.
Germany saw the sharpest decline among eurozone countries. Retail sales there fell by 3.4 per cent over the month. In Spain, the figure fell by 0.9 per cent, and in Italy and Poland by 0.3 per cent.
However, retail sales rose in a number of countries. Latvia led the way, with sales increasing by 2.5 per cent. Growth stood at 2 per cent in Cyprus and 1.8 per cent in Luxembourg.
Overall, the year-on-year trend remains positive. In July, retail sales were 0.6 per cent higher than a year earlier in the eurozone, and 1 per cent higher in the EU.
The main driver of growth was food, beverages and tobacco: sales of these goods in the eurozone rose by 1.6 per cent over the year. Sales of non-food goods rose by 0.2 per cent, whilst sales of motor fuel fell by 3.1 per cent.
The highest year-on-year growth was recorded in Cyprus at 8.6 per cent. In Latvia, sales rose by 7.1 per cent, and in Sweden by 6.4 per cent. In Romania, they fell by 5.7 per cent, in Germany by 2.5 per cent, and in Italy by 1 per cent.
Consequently, following growth in June, retail trade in the eurozone contracted again in July. However, on a year-on-year basis, sales remain above last year’s level.
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