(Alliance News) - Eurozone retail trade rose in November from October, in line with improved economic sentiment in the region, data from Eurostat showed on Friday.
On a monthly basis, the seasonally adjusted volume of retail trade increased by 0.8% in November. This reflected an uplift when compared with October, when retail trade volume decreased by 1.5%.
Compared to the previous month, the volume of eurozone retail trade in November increased by 1.6% for non-food products and by 1.0% for automotive fuels. By contrast, it fell 0.9% for food, drinks and tobacco.
On an annual basis, the adjusted retail sales index decreased by 2.8% in the eurozone, compared to a 2.6% annual decline in October.
In November, the volume of retail trade decreased annually by 4.6% for food, drinks and tobacco and by 2.3% for non-food products. Conversely, retail trade grew by 4.4% for automotive fuels.
The largest yearly decreases in the total retail trade volume were registered in Denmark, down 7.4%, Belgium, down 6.0%, and Germany, down 5.7%.
The highest increases were observed in Latvia, up 10.7%, Slovenia, up 7.5%, and Poland, up 5.7%.
In other news, Eurostat data also showed a rise in eurozone economic sentiment for the second consecutive month in December.
The economic sentiment indicator rose 1.8 points to 95.8 in the eurozone, trending up but below the long-term average.
In December, industry confidence picked up slightly for the first time since February, Eurostat said, driven by "a strong uplift in managers' production expectations, which was partly offset by slight, further deterioration in managers' assessments of the current level of overall order books and piling up of stocks of finished products."
Services confidence rose 2.6 points, driven by "all components of the indicator", while consumer confidence continued to recover, up 1.4 points.
Retail trade confidence also saw a rebound, up 2.6 points as managers' assessments of their expected business situation and, particularly, their past business situation improved, said Eurostat.
Meanwhile, the economics expectations indicator remained broadly stable in December, unchanged at 107.3 points, and well-above the long-term average.
Selling price expectations eased across all business sectors.
Consumers' price expectations continued declining, while their perceptions of price developments over the past twelve months remained broadly stable at a record high level, Eurostat noted.
Eurostat conducts six surveys on a monthly basis in the following areas: manufacturing industry, construction, consumers, retail trade, services, and financial services. The surveys are conducted by national institutes in the member states and the candidate countries based on harmonised questionnaires and a common timetable.
By Holly Beveridge; Alliance News reporter
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