Luxembourg, 07/07/2003 (Agence Europe) - According to statistics released by Eurostat on 3 July, the volume of retail trade rose by 2.2% in the eurozone and 2.8% in the European Union as a whole (EU15) in April 2003 on April 2002. In April 2003, compared to April 2002, retail trade of "food, drinks and tobacco" increased by 4.2% in the eurozone and 4.6% in the EU15. The sale of food in specialised stores rose by 2.3% in the eurozone and by 2.2% in the EU15, while sales in non specialised stores gained 4.5% and 4.8% respectively. The non food sector grew by 1.2% in the eurozone and by 1.8% in the EU15. Among the non food sectors, "textiles, clothing and footwear" fell by 0.7% in the eurozone but gained 0.4% in the EU15, while retail sales of "household goods" rose 0.8% and 2.4% respectively. Compared to April 2002, and among the Member States for which data are available, retail trade grew in all Member States except for Portugal (-0.6%) and Belgium (-0.3%). The highest growth rates were observed in Austria (+7.3%), Sweden (+4.7%) and Ireland (+4.6%).
The EU's statistical office reports that in monthly terms (April 2003 compared with March 2003), retail sales rose by 1.5% in both the eurozone and the EU15. Compared with March 2003, "food, drinks and tobacco" increased by 1.2% in the eurozone and 2.5% in the EU15. The "non food" aggregate registered growth of 0.6% in both zones. Among the non food sectors, "textiles, clothing and footwear" grew by 0.8% in the eurozone and 0.7% in the EU15, while the index for "household goods" increased by 0.2% and 0.7% respectively. Compared to March 2003, and among the Member States for which data are available, retail trade grew in all Member States except for Finland (-0.6%) and Denmark (-0.5%). The largest increases were registered in Austria (+4.8%), Portugal (+3.3%) and Ireland (+2.6%).