Retail trade in the European Union and the euro area in December recorded the biggest decrease since the spring due to restrictions because of the spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus, whereas in Croatia it increased for the first time since the summer, the latest Eurostat report indicates.

In December 2021, the seasonally adjusted volume of retail trade decreased by 2.8% in the EU and by 0.9% compared with November.

Data for the euro area indicated that retail trade increased by 3.0% compared with November when it increased by 1.0%.

In the EU and euro area the volume of retail trade decreased by 5.0% and 5.2% respectively for non-food products.

The volume of retail trade for food, drinks and tobacco decreased slightly by 0.2% in the EU and 0.3% in the euro area.

Retail trade for automotive fuels remained stable in the EU whereas in the euro area it increase slightly by 0.2%.

Among the Member States for which data are available, the largest monthly decreases in the total retail trade volume were registered in the Netherlands (-9.2%), Spain (-5.7%) and Germany (-5.5%). The highest increases were observed in Latvia (+7.2%), Slovenia (+2.1%), Bulgaria and Hungary (both +1.0%).

In December retail trade in Croatia increased for the first time since August, increasing by 0.7% compared with November when it decreased by 0.6%.

In December 2021 compared with December 2020, the calendar adjusted retail sales index increased by 2.0% in the euro area and by 2.6% in the EU.