ZAGREB, May 6, 2019 – In March 2019 compared with February 2019, Croatia was in a group of EU countries with the biggest decline in the volume of retail sales but it was also in a group of countries recording the biggest annual increase of the seasonally adjusted volume of retail trade, according to figures released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.
According to seasonally and working day-adjusted data, the volume of retail sales in Croatia in March was down 1.9% on the month.
In the euro area in March 2019, compared with February 2019, the volume of retail trade increased by 0.6% for food, drinks and tobacco, while automotive fuel decreased by 0.6% and non-food products by 0.4%.
In the EU28, the retail trade volume increased by 0.5% for food, drinks and tobacco and by 0.2% for non-food products, while automotive fuel remained stable.
Among Member States for which data are available, the largest increases in the total retail trade volume were registered in Lithuania (+1.7%), Portugal (+1.2%) and the United Kingdom (+1.1%).
The highest decreases were observed in Slovenia (-3.1%), Croatia (-1.9%) and Austria (-0.8%).
In the euro area in March 2019, compared with March 2018, the volume of retail trade increased by 3.0% for non-food products, by 1.4% for automotive fuels and by 0.7% for food, drinks and tobacco.
In the EU28, the retail trade volume increased by 4.4% for non-food products, by 4.1% for automotive fuel and by 0.4% for food, drinks and tobacco.
Among Member States for which data are available, the highest yearly increases in the total retail trade volume were registered in Ireland (+10.8%), Romania (+9.3%), Croatia and Luxembourg (both +8.6%).
Decreases were observed for Slovakia (-2.0%), Austria (-1.0%) and Belgium (-0.9%).
More news about Croatian economy can be found in the Business section.
