Retail sales increased across both the eurozone and the European Union in May, with Bulgaria posting an even stronger monthly gain, according to the latest figures released by Eurostat. The improvement was driven mainly by stronger consumer spending on food, beverages, and tobacco, although purchases of automotive fuel continued to decline.
Compared with April, retail trade in the euro area rose by 0.2%, reversing a 0.3% drop recorded the previous month. Across the EU, sales increased by 0.5% after a 0.6% decline in April. Bulgaria recorded a monthly increase of 0.8%, recovering most of the 1% decrease reported a month earlier.
Among EU member states, only six countries posted stronger monthly growth than Bulgaria. Cyprus led the bloc with a 3.7% increase, followed by Luxembourg at 3.6% and Poland at 2.4%. The steepest monthly declines were registered in Estonia, where retail sales fell by 2.2%, Croatia by 2.0%, and both Belgium and Lithuania by 0.7%.
By category, sales of food, beverages, and tobacco rose by 0.6% in both the eurozone and the EU. At the same time, purchases of non-food products declined by 0.1% in the euro area and by 0.5% across the EU, while sales of automotive fuel fell by 0.5% and 0.4%, respectively.
