Retail trade rises 0.1 per cent in euro area and EU in August
Annual growth reached 0.8 per cent in the euro area and 1.2 per cent across the EU, while automotive fuel sales declined.
Retail trade volumes edged higher in August 2026, with seasonally adjusted growth of 0.1 per cent from July for both the EU and euro area, Eurostat’s first estimates showed. The increase followed July declines of 0.6 per cent for the euro area and 0.5 per cent across the EU.
Non-food sales, excluding automotive fuel, rose 0.5 per cent month on month in each area. Food, drink and tobacco sales increased 0.1 per cent in the euro area and 0.3 per cent across the EU. Fuel sales at specialised retailers fell, recording declines of 1.9 per cent and 1.3 per cent respectively.
Romania led the monthly gains among member states with available figures, at 2.3 per cent, followed by Sweden at 1.4 per cent and Germany at 1.3 per cent. Luxembourg recorded the sharpest contraction, at 9.4 per cent. Malta’s decline was 1.9 per cent and Latvia’s was 1.4 per cent.
On a calendar-adjusted basis, the retail sales index was 0.8 per cent higher in the euro area than in August 2025, while the EU recorded growth of 1.2 per cent. Sweden had the strongest annual increase among countries with available data, at 7.7 per cent, ahead of Cyprus at 7.5 per cent and Estonia at 6.0 per cent.
Eurostat also revised July’s EU monthly decline from 0.4 per cent to 0.5 per cent. July’s annual growth was lowered from 0.6 per cent to 0.4 per cent for the euro area and from 1.0 per cent to 0.9 per cent for the EU.
