BRUSSELS, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- The seasonally adjusted volume of retail trade remained stable in the 19-member eurozone, according to estimates from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union (EU).
Meanwhile, the index declined by 0.2 percent in the 28-member EU compared with the previous months.
Compared with June 2015, the calendar adjusted retail sales index in June 2016 increased by 1.6 percent in the eurozone and by 2.4 percent in the EU, according to Eurostat.
By annual comparison, the 1.6 percent increase in the volume of retail trade in the eurozone in June 2016 was due to a 2.4-percent rise for automotive fuel, 2.1-percent rise for non-food products and 1.1-percent rise 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 June were observed in Romania (16.2 percent), Lithuania (6.2 percent) and Spain (5.8 percent), while a decrease was registered in Belgium (minus 2.4 percent), Eurostat added.
"This is consistent with our expectations, and also likely in line with Eurostat's estimate in calculating advance Q2 GDP data," Claus Vistesen, Chief Eurozone Economist of Pantheon Macroeconomics said.
"We still think, however, that risks are tilted towards a modest downward revision later this month due to a sharper-than-expected fall in German construction capex," he added.
