Eurozone's retail trade volume up in September

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - The euro area's retail trade volume rose by 0.1% month-on-month in September, the EU's statistical office announced on Wednesday.

According to Eurostat, the figure increased 0.2% in the EU28 in September compared to August.

In August, the retail trade volume was up 0.6% from July in the eurozone and 0.3% in the EU28.

The eurozone/euro area represents member states that use the single currency -- euro -- while the EU28 includes all member countries of the bloc.

In the euro area, "the volume of retail trade increased by 0.4% for automotive fuels and by 0.1% for non-food products while food, drinks and tobacco fell by 0.4%" in September, versus August, according to Eurostat.

In the EU28 side, retail trade soared 0.3% for automotive fuels and 0.1% for non-food products, while for food, drinks and tobacco fell by 0.1%.

Among member states for which data are available, Croatia (2.6%) posted the largest rise in the total retail trade volume, followed by Ireland (2.4%) and Romania (0.7%) respectively, the statistical office said.

"The largest decreases were observed in Portugal (-2.4%), Latvia (-1.0%) and Slovenia (-0.7%)," it added.