Eurozone retail trade down 0.7 pct in Sept.

The volume of retail trade in eurozone 17 nations in September was down by 0.7 percent as compared with August, according to a report published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. The month on month growth rate for EU was down by 0.3 percent at the same time. Retail trade in September experienced 1.5 percent year on year decrease in eurozone and 0.8 percent fall in EU. Among components of retail trade, "Food, drinks and tobacco" remain unchanged in the eurozone and up by 0.1 percent in the EU on a monthly base. The non-food sector fell by 0.8 percent and 0.9 percent respectively. With respect to annual changes, "Food, drinks and tobacco" fell by 0.5 percent in the eurozone and by 0.4 percent in the EU. The non food sector remained fell by 1.9percent in eurozone and by 0.8 percent in EU. The report shows that among member nations, ten saw m-o-m increase and eleven saw decrease. The largest decrease occurred in Malta (-7.5 percent) and Portugal (-6.2 percent), while the highest increases were observed in Lithuania (10.6 percent), Luxembourg (8.3 percent) and Latvia (8.1 percent).