Gokhan Ergocun
03 December 2020•Update: 03 December 2020
ISTANBUL
The euro area retail trade volume rose 1.5% in October on a monthly basis, the EU’s statistical authority said on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the retail trade volume decreased by 1.7% in the EU in October compared to September, Eurostat noted.
In September, the volume decreased 1.7% in the eurozone and 1.3% in the EU.
The eurozone/euro area or EA19 represents member states that use the single currency -- euro -- while the EU27 includes all member countries of the bloc.
In the euro area, the volume of retail trade was up 2% for both non-food products and food-drinks-tobacco, while decreased by 3.7% for automotive fuel.
In the EU side, the volume of retail trade expanded 2% for non-food products, 1.9% for food-drinks-tobacco, and fell by 3.4% for automotive fuels.
Retail trade via mail order and the Internet rose 6.1% in the eurozone and 5.6% in the EU in October compared to September.
Demand for the online shopping platforms increased significantly during the pandemic period, when people chose or were forced to stay home.
"Among Member States for which data are available, the highest increases in the total retail trade volume were observed in Denmark (8.3%), Croatia (6.5%) and France (2.8%)," Eurostat said.
Decreases were posted by Slovenia (1.4%), Slovakia (1.2%), the Netherlands (0.7%) and Luxembourg (0.3%).
Annual comparison
"In October 2020 compared with October 2019, the calendar adjusted retail sales index increased by 4.3% in the euro area and by 4.2% in the EU," Eurostat said.
On a yearly basis, the volume of retail trade was up 5.4% for non-food products, 5.1% for food-drinks-tobacco, and down 9.6% for fuels in the eurozone, while it rose 5.7% for non-food products, 4.6% for food-drinks-tobacco, and dropped 9.5% for fuels in the EU.
Ireland (13.8%), Denmark (12.5%), Lithuania (8.5%) posted the largest annual rises while Slovenia, Malta, and Bulgaria saw the worst falls, minus 11.1%, minus 7.2%, and minus 5.3%, respectively.
