Volume of retail trade up by 0.8% in the euro area and by 1.2% in the EU

Overview

In March 2024, compared with February 2024, the seasonally adjusted retail trade volume increased by 0.8% in the euro area and by 1.2% in the EU, according to first estimates from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

In February 2024, retail trade volume fell by 0.3% in the euro area and by 0.1% in the EU.

In March 2024 compared with March 2023, the calendar adjusted retail sales index increased by 0.7% the euro area and by 2.0% in the EU.

Retail trade volume

Monthly comparison by retail sector and by Member State

In the euro area in March 2024, compared with February 2024, the volume of retail trade

increased for food, drinks, tobacco by 1.2%,
remained stable for non-food products (except automotive fuel),
increased for automotive fuel in specialised stores by 2.0%.

In the EU, the volume of retail trade

increased for food, drinks, tobacco by 0.8%,
increased for non-food products (except automotive fuel) by 0.5%,
increased for automotive fuel in specialised stores by 1.5%.

Among Member States for which data are available, the highest monthly increases in the total retail trade volume were recorded in Poland (+7.3%), Cyprus (+4.8%) and Hungary (+2.0%). The largest decreases were observed in Sweden (-1.8%), Malta (-1.0%) and Austria (-0.8%).

Annual comparison by retail sector and by Member State

In the euro area in March 2024, compared with March 2023, the volume of retail trade

increased for food, drinks, tobacco by 1.1%,
increased for non-food products (except automotive fuel) by 0.8%,
decreased for automotive fuel in specialised stores by 0.6%.

In the EU, the volume of retail trade

increased for food, drinks, tobacco by 1.0%,
increased for non-food products (except automotive fuel) by 3.0%,
decreased for automotive fuel in specialised stores by 0.5%.

Among Member States for which data are available, the highest annual increases in the total retail trade volume were recorded in Poland (+14.8%), Luxembourg (+10.3%) and Croatia (+8.9%). The largest decreases were observed in Belgium (-4.6%), Estonia (-2.3%) and Austria (-2.0%).

Tables

Volume of retail trade % change compared with the previous month*
	Oct-23	Nov-23	Dec-23	Jan-24	Feb-24	Mar-24
Euro area
Total retail trade	0.3	0.4	-0.5	0.2	-0.3	0.8
Food, drinks, tobacco	-0.6	-0.1	-0.6	0.5	-0.5	1.2
Non-food products (except automotive fuel)	0.8	0.2	-0.6	0.4	0.3	0.0
Automotive fuel in specialised stores	0.1	1.8	0.5	0.4	-0.9	2.0
EU
Total retail trade	0.4	0.3	-0.4	0.2	-0.1	1.2
Food, drinks, tobacco	-0.5	-0.1	-0.4	0.4	-0.4	0.8
Non-food products (except automotive fuel)	0.9	0.3	-0.7	0.6	0.3	0.5
Automotive fuel in specialised stores	0.7	0.5	0.7	0.1	0.4	1.5
* Calendar and seasonally adjusted Source dataset: sts_trtu_m

Volume of retail trade % change compared with the previous month*
	Oct-23	Nov-23	Dec-23	Jan-24	Feb-24	Mar-24
Euro area	0.3	0.4	-0.5	0.2	-0.3	0.8
EU	0.4	0.3	-0.4	0.2	-0.1	1.2
Belgium	-0.5	0.9	-1.9	-0.7	-1.9	0.5
Bulgaria	0.8	0.4	-0.7	0.8	0.4	-0.6
Czechia	0.9	0.4	0.1	1.3	-0.9	c
Denmark	0.1	1.0	-0.3	-1.6	1.5	0.6
Germany	1.0	-0.6	-0.3	-0.1	-1.6	1.8
Estonia	0.1	-1.0	0.2	-2.3	1.1	0.5
Ireland	-0.2	0.1	1.2	0.0	0.2	0.0
Greece	-2.2	1.0	2.1	-4.3	-3.8	c
Spain	0.5	1.2	-0.8	-0.5	0.5	-0.6
France	-0.1	1.1	-0.7	0.9	0.4	1.1
Croatia	1.2	0.9	0.6	0.7	1.2	-0.1
Italy	0.3	0.2	-0.7	c	c	c
Cyprus	0.0	0.9	0.2	1.4	-1.2	4.8
Latvia	2.3	0.4	0.6	-1.4	0.4	1.0
Lithuania	0.2	1.0	0.1	0.8	0.8	1.2
Luxembourg	1.1	1.9	2.9	3.4	-3.0	0.9
Hungary	-0.1	0.9	1.5	0.1	-0.3	2.0
Malta	0.1	1.2	-1.2	0.0	0.6	-1.0
Netherlands	0.2	0.7	-0.4	1.4	0.7	-0.4
Austria	-0.8	0.7	-1.7	1.0	0.3	-0.8
Poland	0.2	-0.7	-0.8	-0.1	1.4	7.3
Portugal	-0.6	0.5	0.3	-0.2	-0.1	0.0
Romania	1.1	1.7	-0.4	4.6	c	c
Slovenia	1.0	0.3	-0.3	-1.3	0.0	1.9
Slovakia	1.6	0.0	1.7	-1.1	0.8	-0.6
Finland	0.3	0.0	-0.9	0.2	0.1	0.2
Sweden	2.3	-1.2	-0.5	0.2	2.8	-1.8
Norway	0.3	0.4	-1.0	-0.1	0.2	0.3
Switzerland	0.1	0.5	-0.2	0.8	0.1	-0.4
* Calendar and seasonally adjusted c Confidential Source dataset: sts_trtu_m

Volume of retail trade % change compared with the same month of the previous year*
	Oct-23	Nov-23	Dec-23	Jan-24	Feb-24	Mar-24
Euro area
Total retail trade	-1.2	-0.6	-0.6	-0.7	-0.5	0.7
Food, drinks, tobacco	-1.0	-0.5	-0.1	-1.2	-1.2	1.1
Non-food products (except automotive fuel)	-0.1	0.3	-0.2	-0.6	0.4	0.8
Automotive fuel in specialised stores	-5.4	-3.1	-3.6	0.7	-1.5	-0.6
EU
Total retail trade	-1.0	-0.6	-0.5	-0.6	0.0	2.0
Food, drinks, tobacco	-1.0	-0.6	0.2	-0.8	-0.7	1.0
Non-food products (except automotive fuel)	0.3	0.6	-0.2	-0.4	1.0	3.0
Automotive fuel in specialised stores	-5.0	-4.5	-5.2	-0.3	-0.9	-0.5
* Calendar adjusted Source dataset: sts_trtu_m

Volume of retail trade % change compared with the same month of the previous year*
	Oct-23	Nov-23	Dec-23	Jan-24	Feb-24	Mar-24
Euro area	-1.2	-0.6	-0.6	-0.7	-0.5	0.7
EU	-1.0	-0.6	-0.5	-0.6	0.0	2.0
Belgium	-4.3	-2.6	-3.7	-3.8	-6.8	-4.6
Bulgaria	3.4	3.1	0.8	-0.1	3.1	0.4
Czechia	-1.8	-0.2	1.2	3.3	1.6	c
Denmark	1.9	2.6	4.8	0.7	2.2	3.6
Germany	0.1	-1.6	-0.7	-1.1	-2.3	0.2
Estonia	-5.1	-8.5	-4.3	-6.7	-3.5	-2.3
Ireland	0.5	-0.1	1.5	1.2	1.1	1.2
Greece	-6.1	-4.3	0.8	-9.6	-9.8	c
Spain	2.2	3.9	2.6	0.3	1.8	0.4
France	-2.4	0.3	-0.6	0.4	1.3	2.2
Croatia	6.0	6.8	8.5	7.9	9.2	8.9
Italy	-2.5	-2.3	-2.3	c	c	c
Cyprus	2.9	3.3	3.7	4.8	0.5	6.7
Latvia	0.2	-0.5	1.2	-1.6	-0.3	2.8
Lithuania	-0.5	0.3	3.3	-0.7	2.6	5.6
Luxembourg	9.1	9.7	6.7	13.4	8.6	10.3
Hungary	-6.5	-5.5	-0.3	0.6	1.7	4.2
Malta	0.6	5.4	-0.4	1.4	3.9	-1.2
Netherlands	-0.5	-0.5	0.6	1.1	2.6	3.7
Austria	-3.0	-2.0	-3.9	-2.1	-1.2	-2.0
Poland	0.8	-1.1	-2.7	-2.1	1.1	14.8
Portugal	-0.1	1.4	0.7	0.2	0.7	0.4
Romania	0.8	3.4	1.5	7.5	c	c
Slovenia	-3.8	-5.1	-3.3	-1.8	-3.9	-0.5
Slovakia	-1.3	-1.7	-3.3	1.7	4.1	1.2
Finland	-2.7	-2.5	-1.6	-2.4	-2.2	-0.3
Sweden	-0.8	-3.5	-3.0	-3.0	2.5	0.9
Norway	-1.1	-1.5	-0.3	-1.1	-0.3	0.6
Switzerland	-2.0	-1.2	-0.1	0.3	0.1	-0.2
* Calendar adjusted c Confidential Source dataset: sts_trtu_m

Volume of retail trade, calendar and seasonally adjusted indices (base year 2021)
	Oct-23	Nov-23	Dec-23	Jan-24	Feb-24	Mar-24
Euro area	98.8	99.2	98.7	98.9	98.6	99.4
EU	99.2	99.5	99.1	99.3	99.2	100.4
Belgium	87.9	88.7	87.0	86.4	84.8	85.2
Bulgaria	106.8	107.2	106.5	107.4	107.8	107.1
Czechia	92.3	92.7	92.8	94.0	93.2	c
Denmark	93.6	94.5	94.2	92.7	94.1	94.7
Germany	96.7	96.1	95.8	95.7	94.2	95.9
Estonia	93.3	92.4	92.6	90.5	91.5	92.0
Ireland	100.4	100.5	101.7	101.7	101.9	101.9
Greece	96.9	97.9	100.0	95.7	92.1	c
Spain	104.8	106.1	105.2	104.7	105.2	104.6
France	100.6	101.7	101.0	101.9	102.3	103.4
Croatia	107.2	108.2	108.9	109.7	111.0	110.9
Italy	97.7	97.9	97.2	c	c	c
Cyprus	109.6	110.6	110.8	112.3	111.0	116.3
Latvia	102.6	103.0	103.6	102.1	102.5	103.5
Lithuania	98.8	99.8	99.9	100.7	101.5	102.7
Luxembourg	106.3	108.3	111.4	115.2	111.7	112.7
Hungary	96.3	97.2	98.7	98.8	98.5	100.5
Malta	112.6	114.0	112.6	112.6	113.3	112.2
Netherlands	99.7	100.4	100.0	101.4	102.1	101.7
Austria	94.8	95.5	93.9	94.8	95.1	94.3
Poland	108.1	107.3	106.4	106.3	107.8	115.7
Portugal	106.1	106.6	106.9	106.7	106.6	106.6
Romania	107.0	108.8	108.4	113.4	c	c
Slovenia	99.2	99.5	99.2	97.9	97.9	99.8
Slovakia	100.1	100.1	101.8	100.7	101.5	100.9
Finland	92.5	92.5	91.7	91.9	92.0	92.2
Sweden	94.2	93.1	92.6	92.8	95.4	93.7
Norway	92.5	92.9	92.0	91.9	92.1	92.4
Switzerland	97.9	98.4	98.2	99.0	99.1	98.7
c Confidential Source dataset: sts_trtu_m

Volume of retail trade, calendar adjusted indices (base year 2021)
	Oct-23	Nov-23	Dec-23	Jan-24	Feb-24	Mar-24
Euro area	99.9	102.2	115.3	93.0	87.7	97.9
EU	100.4	102.8	115.4	92.6	87.9	99.1
Belgium	90.1	90.5	102.2	84.0	74.8	84.5
Bulgaria	110.5	113.7	118.5	98.5	96.5	104.3
Czechia	94.7	105.0	114.5	85.1	80.6	c
Denmark	92.0	101.2	109.0	85.4	82.0	93.0
Germany	98.3	102.9	107.0	88.1	85.0	97.6
Estonia	94.6	93.4	104.7	81.2	77.6	90.8
Ireland	95.4	115.9	137.8	94.3	95.1	92.8
Greece	98.1	98.3	111.0	85.5	88.8	c
Spain	103.8	106.1	121.9	104.1	92.0	101.1
France	101.3	103.0	122.8	97.6	90.7	101.1
Croatia	105.8	98.9	111.8	89.2	88.8	102.6
Italy	101.1	99.8	117.8	c	c	c
Cyprus	110.7	112.4	133.9	101.4	97.6	110.5
Latvia	101.8	99.4	115.1	91.2	87.9	101.1
Lithuania	100.7	99.0	112.2	90.0	87.3	100.5
Luxembourg	108.9	110.7	129.9	112.2	101.4	116.1
Hungary	99.6	102.1	116.9	85.6	85.2	98.4
Malta	114.4	120.7	126.4	101.8	99.7	107.5
Netherlands	100.3	104.8	110.7	95.9	89.3	101.0
Austria	97.0	96.2	108.0	86.8	85.6	96.7
Poland	110.7	108.2	122.3	96.9	95.7	118.5
Portugal	105.2	107.5	128.1	98.0	92.1	102.2
Romania	109.3	114.9	122.1	100.4	c	c
Slovenia	101.7	100.9	109.6	89.6	85.6	101.3
Slovakia	102.6	103.8	113.5	91.6	92.9	102.8
Finland	92.2	93.3	104.2	80.5	77.0	87.8
Sweden	94.5	97.7	103.0	81.6	80.7	91.9
Norway	90.8	101.1	108.0	82.7	77.7	88.1
Switzerland	97.9	105.7	117.8	92.8	88.1	99.7
c Confidential Source dataset: sts_trtu_m

Notes for users

Revisions and timetable

Data of previous months have been revised compared to those issued in the News Release of 5 April 2024. The monthly percentage change for February 2024 has been revised from -0.5% to -0.3% in the euro area and from -0.4% to -0.1% in the EU. The annual percentage change has been revised from -0.7% to -0.5% in the euro area and from -0.2% to 0.0% in the EU.

Methods and definitions

The index of the volume of retail trade measures the evolution of the turnover in retail trade, adjusted for price changes (deflated), i.e. the evolution of the total amount of goods sold, based on data adjusted for calendar and seasonal effects.

Seasonally adjusted euro area and EU series are calculated by aggregating the seasonally adjusted national data.

Missing observations from Member States for recent months are estimated for the calculation of the euro area and the EU aggregates.

Starting with reference period January 2024, the base year of the data has been changed to 2021, since 2018 the base year had been 2015. More information on the reasons for and impact of the base year change can be found in the related Statistics Explained article.

Geographical information

The euro area (EA20) includes Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland.

The European Union (EU27) includes Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden.