Across the EU, Retail Sales Declined 0.1% Monthly But Rose 1.2% Year-on-year

Eurozone retail sales fell 0.3% month-on-month in June, missing market expectations of a 0.1% rise, while annual growth slowed to 0.7% versus a forecast 1.0%, according to Eurostat. Across the EU, retail sales declined 0.1% monthly but rose 1.2% year-on-year. Finland posted the steepest monthly drop at 1.5%, followed by Romania (-1.2%) and Germany (-1.1%).

Luxembourg led monthly gains with a 2.5% increase, ahead of Portugal (1.7%) and Croatia and Sweden (both 1.5%). On an annual basis, Romania saw the largest decline at 6.6%, while Austria fell 0.3% and Belgium and Germany each dropped 0.1%. Luxembourg recorded the strongest yearly growth at 8.3%, followed by Sweden (7.2%) and Bulgaria (7.1%).