Romania retail sales fell 1.6% in March compared with the previous month in data adjusted for the number of working days and seasonal factors, the statistics institute INS said. In February, retail sales were down 1.4% on the month.
Sales of non-food products went down 1.1% compared with February, the data showed. Sales of food, beverages and tobacco products were up 1.6% on the month, while fuel sales inched 0.2% higher from February.
More worrying is the decline against the similar period of 2014. The adjusted retail sales were down 0.5% on the year in March, after a 3.5% growth in February.
Fuel sales fell 4.3% year-on-year in March, while sales of non-food items declined 3.8%. However, sales of food products were up 8.6% compared to March 2014.
Despite the March decline, Romania retail sales posted a 3% increase in the first quarter compared with the same period of 2014.
In unadjusted data, retail sales were up 13.6% in March from a month earlier, but 0.2% lower compared with the same period of 2014.