Eurozone Retail Sales Dip 0.2% in February

Eurozone retail sales edged down 0.2% month-on-month in February 2026, following stagnation in January and aligning with market forecasts. Food, drinks, and tobacco sales fell 0.5%, reversing two consecutive months of growth, while non-food product sales remained flat after two prior months of decline. In contrast, fuel trade rebounded with a 0.7% increase, reversing a 0.8% drop from the previous month. Among the bloc’s largest economies, sales fell in Germany (-0.6%), the Netherlands (-0.3%), and France (-0.1%), but held steady in Italy and Spain. Year-over-year, retail trade growth eased to 1.7% in February, down from 2.1% in January, slightly exceeding expectations of 1.6%.

Eurozone retail sales fell 0.1% month-on-month in January 2026, following an upwardly revised 0.2% gain in December 2025 and missing market expectations of a 0.3% rise. The decline was driven by weaker sales of fuel (-1.1% vs 0.6% in December) and other non-food products (-0.2% vs -0.4%), while sales of food, drinks, and tobacco rose 0.3%, slightly below December’s 0.4% increase. Looking at the region’s largest economies, retail trade fell in Germany (-0.9%) but rose in France (0.3%), Spain (0.2%), Italy (0.2%), and the Netherlands (0.4%). On an annual basis, Eurozone retail growth accelerated to 2.0% in January from 1.8% in December, surpassing the market consensus of a 1.7% increase.

Eurozone retail sales fell by 0.5% month on month in December 2025, reversing a downwardly revised 0.1% increase in November and undershooting market expectations for a 0.2% decline. The weakness was led by non-food retailing, where sales dropped 1.2%, the steepest fall since September 2023, ending a three-month run of gains. Fuel sales were unchanged for a second consecutive month, while sales of food, drinks and tobacco edged up by 0.1%, following a 0.4% decline in November. Among the region’s largest economies, retail activity contracted notably in France (-1.4%), Spain (-0.9%) and Italy (-0.5%), while Germany recorded a modest increase of 0.1%. On an annual basis, retail sales growth slowed sharply to 1.3% in December, down from 2.4% in November and below the 1.6% consensus forecast, underscoring a loss of consumer momentum toward year-end.