Europe Retail Trade Declines

The volume of retail trade in the euro zone fell by 0.6 percent in June, compared with May, the European Union's statistics bureau Eurostat said on Tuesday.

Compared with June 2007, the retail sales index decreased by 3.1 percent in the 15-nation bloc sharing the same currency euro, while in May, it increased by 0.5 percent month on month but dropped slightly by 0.1 percent year on year.

In June 2008, compared with the previous month, "food, drinks and tobacco" decreased by 0.4 percent in the euro zone. The non food sector fell by 0.6 percent.

In the 27-nation EU, retail sales fell by 1.0 percent in June compared with the previous month and by 1.1 percent against a year ago.

Among the member states for which data were available, total retail trade rose in four, fell in 13 and remained unchanged in Denmark. The highest increase was observed in Romania, which was 4.1 percent, while the largest decrease was in Austria, 4.1 percent.