Monthly changes
In April 2008, compared with March 2008, “food, drinks and tobacco” decreased by 1.0% in the euro area and by 0.6% in the EU27. The non food sector fell by 0.5% and 0.2% respectively.
Among the Member States for which data are available, total retail trade rose in nine Member States, fell in eight and remained unchanged in Denmark. The highest increases were observed in Lithuania (+4.9%), Latvia (+2.3%) and Poland (+2.2%), and the largest decreases in Sweden (-1.8%), Germany (-1.7%) and Luxembourg (-1.5%).
Annual changes
In April 2008, compared with April 2007, retail trade of “food, drinks and tobacco” fell by 3.4% in the euro area and by 2.0% in the EU27. The non food sector decreased by 2.4% in the euro area, but grew by 0.3% in the EU27.
Among the Member States for which data are available, total retail trade rose in eleven Member States and fell in seven. The highest increases were observed in Romania (+18.0%), Lithuania (+14.0%) and Bulgaria (+10.1%), and the largest decreases in Germany (-5.6%), Spain (-3.3%) and Austria (-2.9%).
