Eurozone Retail Sales Weaker Than Expected in July

Eurozone retail sales, an indicator of consumer demand, posted much weaker-than-expected figures in July, mainly due to a sharp drop in the number of goods purchased online.

The European Union statistics office Eurostat said on Friday that retail sales in the 19 countries dealing with the single currency fell 2.3 percent in July compared to June, but is still 3.1 percent higher than in July 2020.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected a monthly increase of 0.1 percent and 4.8 percent on an annual basis.

June sales were revised up slightly, to a 1.8 percent increase from 1.5 percent month-on-month and 5.4 percent from 5 percent year-on-year.