Overall retail trade volume in the European Union rose 1.2% on the year in May, EU’s statistics agency Eurostat said.
The highest annual increases among EU members were observed in Luxembourg (+16.7%), Romania and Hungary (+5%), while decreases were registered in Slovenia (-2.4%), Austria and Poland (both -2%) and Germany and Finland (both -0.6%).
In monthly terms, Romanian retail sales rose 1.9% in May, also the second biggest increase in the EU28 bloc. Sales in the European Union inched down 0.1% on the month.
The data are adjusted for working days and seasonal effects.
The highest increases in total retail trade were observed in Portugal (+2.9%), Romania and Malta (+1.6%), and the largest decreases in Latvia (-3%), Slovenia (-2.9%) and Estonia (-1.5%).