Euro area retail sales fell for the first time in four months and at a slightly faster than expected pace in July, led by a slump in sales of auto fuel, preliminary data from the statistical office Eurostat showed Wednesday.
Retail sales decreased 0.2 percent month-on-month in July, which was slightly faster than the 0.1 percent fall economists had expected.
The 0.3 percent decrease that was originally reported for June was revised to 0.2 percent growth.
The latest decline was the first since March, when sales fell 0.4 percent.
Sales of automotive fuel in specialized stores decreased for the second month in a row, down 1.2 percent in July.
The food, drinks and tobacco group logged sales growth of 0.4 percent and the non-food products excluding auto fuel segment registered a 0.5 percent upside.
Mail orders and internet sales grew 3.8 percent, which was more than double of the 1.5 percent increase in June.
Eurozone retail sales continued to fall on a year-on-year basis, down 1.0 percent in July, which was the same as in June, post-revision.
In the EU, the retail sales volume shrunk 0.3 percent monthly in July following a 0.2 percent gain in the previous month. Compared to the same month last year, retail sales continued to fall, down 1.2 percent in July.
Among the EU states, the worst monthly declines in retail sales were logged in Denmark and Ireland. The biggest gains were seen in Portugal, Sweden and Cyprus.
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