Romania retail sales fell 0.8% in May compared with the previous month in data adjusted for the number of working days and seasonal factors, the statistics institute INS said. In April, retail sales were up 3.1% on the month.
Fuel sales declined 1.8% on the month in May, while sales of food, beverages and tobacco products were down 0.1%. On the other hand, sales of non-food products went up 0.4% against April.
Against the similar period of 2014, the adjusted retail sales were up 4.2% in May, a slowdown from a 7.5% growth in April.
Food sales rose 9.4% year-on-year in May, while sales of fuels increased 8.3%. Sales of non-food items were down 1.7% compared with May 2014, the data showed.
In the first five months of the year, Romania retail sales posted a 4.3% increase compared with the same period of 2014.
In unadjusted data, retail sales were down 2% in May from a month earlier, but they were up 3.1% compared with the same period of 2014.