Retail sales in the European Union and the euro area saw a strong recovery in August following a relaxation of coronavirus measures, but the drop in retail sales in Croatia accelerated, a report by the European statistical office showed on Monday.

In August, the seasonally-adjusted volume of retail trade in the EU grew by 3.8% compared to July, when it dropped by 1.2%, according to revised data. In the euro area, retail sales jumped by 4.4% compared to July, when they fell by 1.8%, according to revised data.

The volume of retail trade in non-food products went up by 5.1% in the EU and by 6.1% in the euro area, retail trade in food, drinks and tobacco increased by 2.2% in the EU and by 2.4% in the euro area, and retail trade in automotive fuels went up by 2.1%.

Retail sales via mail order and the Internet rose by 10.5% in the EU and by 12.4% in the euro area.

Among member states for which data are available, the highest increases in retail sales on the month were registered in Belgium (+9.6%), France (+6.2%) and Germany (+3.1%). The largest decreases were recorded in Romania (-1.6%), Slovenia (-1.6%) and Portugal (-1.4%).

In Croatia, the seasonally-adjusted volume of retail trade declined by 0.8% in August compared to July, when it decreased by 0.2%.

On the year, retail sales in the EU went up by 3.5% in August, after a 0.4% increase in July.

In the euro area, they increased by 3.7% in August, after stagnating in July.

Among member states for which data are available, the highest annual increases in retail sales were registered in Belgium (+12.9%), Ireland (+9.8%) and the Netherland (+8.3%). The largest annual decreases were recorded in Bulgaria (-12.2%), Malta (-7.5%) and Slovenia (-6.6%).

In Croatia, the volume of retail trade in August fell by 6.5% year on year, and in July it declined by 4.9% y-o-y.