Retail trade volume went down in Europe in December 2021, according to Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Union (EU).

Retail trade decreased by 3.0 per cent in the Euro Area and by 2.8 per cent in the EU during December 2021, compared with the previous month. In November 2021, the retail trade volume increased by 1.0 per cent in the Euro Area and by 0.9 per cent in the EU.

According to Eurostat, “in the Euro Area in December 2021, compared with December 2020, the volume of retail trade increased by 14.2 per cent for automotive fuels and by 3.1 per cent for non-food products, while it fell by 1.1 per cent for food, drinks and tobacco.”

Additionally, in the EU, the volume of retail trade climbed by 13.1 per cent for automotive fuels, by 4.0 per cent for non-food, and decreased by 0.9 per cent for food, drinks, and tobacco.

Among the Member States for which data are available, the largest annual decline in total retail trade was recorded in Ireland (-3.2 per cent), Spain and Finland (-3.0 per cent). The highest increases were observed in Slovenia (+44.1 per cent), Lithuania (+16.2 per cent), and Estonia (+12.6 per cent).

Retail trade comparison in November

In comparison to November 2021, the volume of retail trade decreased in the Euro Area by 5.2 per cent for non-food products and by 0.3 per cent for food, drinks and tobacco, while it increases by 0.1 per cent for automotive fuels.

According to Eurostat, “in the EU, the volume of retail trade increased by 5.0 per cent for non-food products and by 0.2 per cent for food, drinks and tobacco, while it remained stable for automotive fuels.”

Among the member states, Eurostat notes that the largest monthly decreases in total retail trade were observed in the Netherlands (-9.2 per cent), Spain (-5.7 per cent) and Germany (-5.5 per cent). The highest increases were observed in Latvia (+7.2 per cent), Slovenia (+2.1 per cent) and Bulgaria and Hungary (+1.0 per cent).