Brussels, 08/05/2008 (Agence Europe) - In March 2008, the volume of retail trade fell by 0.4% in the eurozone and 0.7% in the EU27 on February 2008, when retail trade fell by 0.2% in the eurozone but rose by 0.6% in the EU27. Compared with March 2007, the sales index fell 1.6% in the eurozone but grew 0.4% in the EU27.
In monthly terms, food, drinks and tobacco sales fell by 0.1% in the eurozone and 0.6% in the EU27, and non-food retail sales fell by 0.6% and 0.8% respectively. Retail sales only rose in Sweden (0.4%) and Bulgaria (0.2%), with no change in Romania. Retail sales fell in sixteen Member States with the strongest falls recorded in Slovenia (-8.1%), Portugal (-4.1%), Luxembourg (-3.9%) and Estonia (-3.8%).
In annual terms, food, drinks and tobacco sales fell by 2.7% in the eurozone and 0.1% in the EU27, and non-food retail sales fell by 0.9% in the eurozone but rose by 1.4% in the EU27. Retail sales rose in nine Member States, particularly Romania (16.2%), Slovakia (10.4%) and Lithuania, and fell in ten, including Spain (-5.3%), Estonia (-4.9%), Denmark (-4.6%) and Luxembourg (-4.2%). (A.B.)