Eurozone retail sales recorded a seasonally adjusted growth of 1.3% MoM in January, which is the largest increase since November 2017. The figures are above market expectations for a 1.2% growth. On an annual basis, the increase in the currency unit reached 2.2%. The data for December was revised downwards to 1.4%, according to data from the European Statistical Office Eurostat.

For the European Union as a whole, the January increase is 1.1% versus 1.3% in December. On an annual basis, the surge is 2.5%.

The largest monthly growth in the Eurozone is in non-food products – 1.7%. The growth in retail sales of fuels rose by 1.6%, while the food, beverages and tobacco products rose by 0.6%.

For the EU, the trend is similar with the largest increase in non-food products (1.5%), followed by fuels (1.2%) and food, beverages and tobacco (0.8%).

Among the member states, the largest monthly increase was reported in Germany and Malta by 3.3%, and Estonia and Romania by 1.9%. The decline was reported in Finland (2.1%), Slovenia (1%), Denmark and Austria (0.7%) and Belgium (0.4%).