Eurozone retail sales up 17.8% in May

According to the European statistical agency Eurostat, retail sales in the eurozone in May rose by 17.8% compared with 11.7% in April . Analysts had expected sales growth of 15%.

On an annualized basis, retail sales in the eurozone in the reporting month fell by 5.1%, although analysts had expected a decrease of 7.5%.

In all EU countries, sales in May increased by 16.4% compared with April, and decreased by 4.2% in annual terms.

The largest decline in sales in May was recorded in Bulgaria (-20.4%), Luxembourg (-19.7%) and Spain (-17.9%). The strongest growth was recorded in Germany (+7.2%), Denmark (+6.6%) and Austria (+4.8%).