Retail trade in the European Union and the euro area remained stable in May after decreasing in April, whereas in Croatia it increased strongly, the latest Eurostat report released on Wednesday indicates.

In May, the seasonally adjusted volume of retail trade remained unchanged in the EU at 1.3% while it increased by 0.2% in the euro area compared with April, when it decreased by 1.4%.

The volume of retail trade in the EU and euro area increased for non-food products by 1% and 1.2% respectively.

The volume of retail trade for food products, beverages and tobacco decreased by 0.6% in the EU and 0.3% in the euro area.

Retail trade at filling stations also decreased by 0.4% in the EU and 0.2% in the euro area.

Among the member states for which data are available, the highest increases in May were observed in Cyprus (+9%), followed by Croatia (+1.7%) and Portugal (+1.5%).

In April retail trade decreased in Croatia by 0.5%.

The largest monthly decreases in the total retail trade volume in May were registered in Ireland (-6.5%), Finland (-1.7%) and Austria (1.5%).

Year on year, the seasonally adjusted volume of retail trade in May increased in the EU by 0.8% and 0.2% in the euro area.

The strongest increase was for fuel, up 6.8% in the EU and 5.6% in the euro area.

The volume of non-food products sold increased by 2% both in the EU and euro area.

Retail trade decreased only for food products, down 2.6% in the EU and 3.6% in the euro area.

The highest year-on-year increases in the total retail trade volume in May were registered in Slovenia (+25%), Poland (+11.2%) and Hungary (+11.1%).

In Croatia, the volume of retail in May increased by 2.8% year on year after it increased by 3.5% in April.

The largest decreases were observed in Austria (-6.4%), Denmark (-5.6%), Luxembourg (-5.2%), and Finland (-5.2%).