BRUSSELS, July 5 (Xinhua) -- The seasonally adjusted volume of retail trade rose by 0.4 percent from April to May this year in both the 19-country eurozone and the wider European Union (EU), Eurostat, the EU's statistical office, said Tuesday.
Compared with May 2015, the calendar adjusted retail sales index in May 2016 increased by 1.6 percent in the euro area and by 2.8 percent in the EU, according to Eurostat.
By annual comparison, the 1.6 percent increase in the volume of retail trade in the euro area in May 2016 was due to rises of 2.5 percent for non-food products, 2.2 percent rise for automotive fuel and 0.2 percent for "food, drinks and tobacco."
Among the EU member states for which data was available, the highest year-on-year increases in total retail trade in May were observed in Romania (13.8 percent), Luxembourg (10.0 percent), Estonia (7.0 percent), Ireland (6.7 percent), Britain (6.5 percent) and Poland (6.4 percent), while a decrease was registered in Belgium (minus 1.0 percent), Eurostat added.
