January's volume of retail trade up by 1.3 pct in euro area

BRUSSELS, March 5 (Xinhua) -- January's seasonally adjusted volume of retail trade increased by 1.3 percent and 1.1 percent in the euro area and EU28 respectively compared with that of December last year, Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union (EU), said Tuesday in a report.

On the monthly basis, the largest increases in the total retail trade volume were registered in Germany and Malta (both up 3.3 percent), as well as in Estonia and Romania (both up 1.9 percent).

Decreases were observed in Finland (down 2.1 percent), Slovenia (down 1.0 percent), Denmark and Austria (down 0.7 percent), and Belgium (down 0.4 percent), said the report.

Meanwhile, on the year-on-year basis, the calendar adjusted retail sales index in January increased by 2.2 percent in the euro area and by 2.5 percent in the EU28.

Among member states for which data are available, the highest yearly increases in the total retail trade volume were registered in Slovenia (11.0 percent), Ireland (8.1 percent) and Romania (6.7 percent), according to the report.

The index of the volume of retail trade is a business indicator which measures the monthly changes of the deflated turnover of retail trade.