Eurozone retail sales dropped as the Omicron Covid-19 variant, and rising inflation struck the economy.
- Retail sales fell by 3% in December, a worse-than-expected, with Covid-19 restrictions hurting some shops.
- Sales of non-food items dropped by 5.2% during the month despite the Christmas Eve shopping. Food, drinks, and tobacco volumes fell 0.3% as online shopping was down by 3.9%.
- On an annual basis, the volumes of retail sales in December increased by 2.0%. Retail sales rose by 5% in 2021 compared with 2020.
- The Netherlands posted the largest monthly decreases of -9.2% in the total retail trade volume, followed by Spain at -5.7% and Germany at -5.5%. The largest increase was posted in Latvia at +7.2%
On annual basis, Slovenia posted the highest yearly increases in total retail trade volume at +44.1%, followed by Lithuania (+16.2), and Estonia (+12.6%).
Euro Stoxx 50 down -1.19%, EUR USD up +0.26%
Source: Eurostat
