Eurozone Retail Trade Falls 0.7% in February’24
Eurozone Retail Down 0.7% in February
Fashnopsis:
- Eurozone Retail: February Sees 0.7% Year-on-Year Decline
- Regional Variances: Belgium, Slovenia, Finland Retail Slump; Croatia, Romania, Luxembourg Surge
- Monthly Fluctuations: Eurozone Dips 0.5%; Spain Rebounds 0.5%
- Mixed Monthly Results: Germany, Belgium, Cyprus Down; Poland, Croatia, Estonia Up
- Spanish Retail Resilience: 1.8% Year-on-Year Growth, Sustaining Positive Trend
In February 2024, the eurozone witnessed a continued decline in retail trade, with a year-on-year drop of 0.7%, a slight decrease from January’s 0.9% downturn. Similarly, retail sales across the EU fell by 0.2% compared to the previous year, following a 0.6% decline in January.
This marks a consistent downward trend in both the eurozone and the broader EU since September 2022, reflecting ongoing challenges in the retail sector.
Among the reporting Member States, notable annual declines in total retail trade volume were observed in Belgium (-6.8%), Slovenia (-5.6%), and Finland (-3.7%). Conversely, Croatia experienced a significant increase of 9.2%, followed by Romania (8.7%) and Luxembourg (6.9%).
Month-on-month comparisons also revealed a downturn, with retail trade in the eurozone decreasing by 0.5% and the EU by 0.4%.
Noteworthy monthly declines were observed in Germany (-1.9%), Belgium (-1.8%), and Cyprus (-1.1%), while Poland (+1.4%), Croatia (+1.2%), and Estonia (+1.0%) saw the largest increases.
In Spain, however, there was a monthly rebound of 0.5% in retail trade volume for February, following a 0.5% decline in January.
Year-on-year figures for Spain showed a positive trend, with a 1.8% increase compared to February 2023, extending the consecutive months of growth since November 2022.
