Romania - 5th place in EU in terms of rise in retail trade, in May

Luxembourg, Ireland, Slovenia, Portugal and Romania recorded in May the most significant advance in the European Union retail trade compared to the similar period in 2018, according to data released on Thursday by the European Statistics Office (Eurostat). 

Retail trade rose by 1.3pct year-on-year in the Eurozone and in the European Union. The retail trade in the EU 28 was influenced by the fact that non-food sales increased by 2.5pct, food, beverages and cigarettes rose by 2.4pct, while fuel sales decreased by 0.9pct. 

In May, the largest annual increases were reported in Luxembourg (7.4pct), Ireland (7pct), Slovenia (5.6pct), Portugal (4.5pct) and Romania (3.1pct) and the most significant declines in Slovakia (minus 2.6pct), Denmark (minus 1.7pct) and Croatia (minus 1.4pct). 

In May, compared to the previous month, retail trade fell by 0.3pct in the Eurozone and by 0.4pct in the EU28. Retail trade in the EU28 was influenced by the fact that non-food sales had dropped by 0.3pct, fuel prices by 1.6pct, while sales of food, beverages and cigarettes went down by 0.5pct. 

The largest monthly increases were recorded in Portugal (1.5pct), Spain (1.1pct) and Belgium (1pct), and the most significant decline in Croatia (minus 4.4pct), Lithuania (minus 3pct) and Sweden (2.8pct). 

Romania recorded a 0.8pct decline in retail trade in May, following a 0.4pct decline in April.