EU's retail trade falls again in November as 2nd COVID-19 wave bites

The retail trade dropped 5 percent in the European Union (EU) and 6.1 percent in the euro area in November 2020 compared with the previous month, Eurostat said on Thursday, reported Xinhua.

The EU's statistic agency said the reintroduction of COVID-19 containment measures by several member states in November had a "significant impact" on the retail trade.

In October, a somewhat relaxation of measures had resulted in an increase of 1.4 percent in the retail trade volume in both the EU and the euro area.

When compared with November 2019, the calendar adjusted volume of retail trade in November 2020 decreased by 2 percent in the EU and by 2.9 percent in the euro area.

In the euro area, the hardest-hit sector was that of automotive fuels which decreased by 10.6 percent from October while that of non-food products shrunk by 8.9 percent. In the EU, the volume of retail trade was down by 7.7 percent for automotive fuels, and by 7.3 percent for non-food products.

The largest month-on-month decreases in the total retail trade volume were observed in France (-18 percent), Belgium (-15.9 percent) and Austria (-9.9 percent). The highest increases were registered in the Netherlands (+2.6 percent), Croatia (+2.5 percent) and Germany (+1.9 percent).