BRUSSELS, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- The seasonally-adjusted volume of retail trade fell by 0.3 percent month-on-month across the 19-country Eurozone and by 0.8 percent in the wider European Union (EU), official data showed Friday.
On a yearly basis, the calendar adjusted retail sales index increased by 1.1 percent in the single currency bloc and by 2.3 percent in the 28-country EU in December, said Eurostat, the EU's statistics agency.
In November the retail trade volume decreased by 0.6 percent in the Eurozone and by 0.1 percent in the EU, the agency said.
The driver behind December's monthly fall was the automotive fuel, which decreased by 1.1 percent, followed by the sector of food, drinks and tobacco, which dropped by 0.4 percent.
There are great disparities among member states as Finland recorded the largest decreases by 3.2 percent while Luxembourg saw the highest increase by 1.9 percent.
A single purchase
