In the month of December 2009, the volume of retail trade remained stable in the Eurozone (EA16) and fell by 0.1% in the EU27. In November retail trade decreased by 0.5% in both zones. In the year 2009, the retail sales index dropped by 1.6% in the Eurozone and by 1.0% in the EU27. The average volume of retail trade index for 2009, compared with 2008, fell by 2.3% in the Eurozone and by 1.7% in the EU27.

Monthly changes:In December 2009, compared with November 2009, “Food, drinks and tobacco” gained 0.3% in both zones. The non food sector dropped by 0.2% in the Eurozone and by 0.3% in the EU27. Among the Member States for which data are available, total retail trade rose in twelve and fell in seven. The highest increases were observed in Austria (+1.6%), France (+1.2%), Spain, Slovenia and Slovakia (all +0.9%). The largest decreases were recorded in Romania (-5.7%), Malta (-5.6%) and Portugal (-2.8%).

Annual changes:In December 2009, compared with December 2008, “Food, drinks and tobacco” gained 0.1% in the Eurozone and 0.6% in the EU27. The non food sector dropped by 2.2% and 1.4% respectively.

Among the Member States for which data are available, total retail trade rose in seven and fell in twelve. The highest increases were observed in Poland (+4.6%), Sweden (+3.1%) and Austria (+2.7%), and the largest decreases in Latvia (-30.2%), Lithuania (-27.2%) and Estonia (-16.4%). These first estimates come from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

The Eurozone (EA16) includes Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland.

Irish sales rose 1.3% in November - there was no data for December. Sales in the 12 months to November were down 3.7%.

The EU27 includes Belgium (BE), Bulgaria (BG), the Czech Republic (CZ), Denmark (DK), Germany (DE), Estonia (EE), Ireland (IE), Greece (EL), Spain (ES), France (FR), Italy (IT), Cyprus (CY), Latvia (LV), Lithuania (LT), Luxembourg (LU), Hungary (HU), Malta (MT), the Netherlands (NL), Austria (AT), Poland (PL), Portugal (PT), Romania (RO), Slovenia (SI), Slovakia (SK), Finland (FI), Sweden (SE) and the United Kingdom (UK).