Eurozone Retail Sales Fall Unexpectedly

(RTTNews) - Eurozone retail sales declined unexpectedly in January on non-food and auto fuel sales, official data showed on Thursday.

Retail sales registered a monthly drop of 0.3 percent, confounding expectations for an increase of 0.1 percent.

Eurostat revised up retail sales for December to nil growth from the initial estimate of 0.2 percent fall.

On a yearly basis, retail sales growth softened to 1.5 percent from revised 2.2 percent in December. Sales were expected to grow 1.9 percent.

Sales of food, drinks, tobacco rebounded 0.6 percent from the prior month. Meanwhile, non-food product sales fell 0.7 percent and automotive fuel in specialized stores dropped 0.3 percent.

Capital Economics economist Franziska Palmas said the fall in retail sales adds to the impression that the euro-zone economy started 2025 on a weak footing.

Although rising real incomes and lower interest rate are likely to cause sales to pick up again later this year, consumer spending growth is set to be subdued in the coming quarters.

Data today showed that sales in the EU decreased 0.2 percent from December but increased 1.6 percent from the previous year in January.