Luxembourg, 09/02/2001 (Agence Europe) - According to the estimates published on Tuesday by Eurostat, the volume of sales by retail trade increase by 1.2% in the Euro zone and by 1.8% in the EU 15 Europe last November 2000 compared to November 1999.
For the period studied, the Statistical Office of the European Communities specifies that strong increases in sales have been recorded in the household equipment sector, both in the Euro zone (4.1%) and in the EU 15 (1.5%). The food, drinks and tobacco sector increased 1.4% in the Euro zone and 1.2% in the EU15, while that for textiles, clothing and shoes fell 0.3% in the Euro zone, but increase 1.5% in the EU 15. The volume of sales increase in most of the Member States, in particular Ireland (+9.2%), but fell in Italy (-0.9%) and in Germany (-0.4%).
Moreover, Eurostat indicates that in November 2000 sales increase by 0.2% in the Euro zone and by 0.3% in the EU 15 compared to October 2000. It is the household equipment sector that recorded the most significant increase both in the Euro zone (1.5%) as in the EU 15 (0.9%). The sales in the textile, clothing and shoes sectors increase 0.2% in the Euro zone and 0.4% in the EU 15. The strongest rates of growth where seen in Ireland, Finland and the Netherlands.