06/04/2005 (Agence Europe) - Between February 2004 and February 2005, the volume of retail sales increased 1% in the euro zone and 1.9% in the EU of 25. Compared to January 2005, the increase was 0.3% and 0.4% respectively. Annually, the food, drink and tobacco sector saw rises of 1.9% and 2.4% (between January and February 2005, of 1% and 0.7%). In the “non food” sector, the difference between the two zones was greater, with respectively 0.1% and 1.2% as an annual rate, whereas between January and February 2005, this volume fell 0.5% in the euro zone and by 0.2% in the EU of 25. The largest annual changes were to be seen in Slovakia (+12.5%), Lithuania (+9%) and Denmark (+8.2%), whilst Luxembourg (-3.7%) and Belgium (-0.6%) registered decreases. Compared to January 2005, Slovakia (+2.9%), Belgium (+1.1%), Spain (+0.7%) and France (+0.6%) registered increases in sales volumes, and in Poland (-0.5%) and Sweden (-0.2%), they fell.