According to data released by the Community statistical service, the volume of retail sales decreased, in March, by 3.8% in the euro area and 4.1% in the EU, compared to the same month of 2022.

Compared to February, retail sales fell by 1.2% in the eurozone and 1.1% in the EU.

Among the Member States, the biggest year-on-year declines were observed in Estonia (-13.5%), Hungary (-13.2%) and Slovenia (-12.8%) and the main advances were registered in Spain (10.8%), Romania (7.2%) and Cyprus (5.6%).

Compared to February, Latvia (-2.7%), Germany and Poland (-2.4% each) and Luxembourg (-1.9%) had the biggest falls and Romania (2.9%), Portugal (2.3%) and Ireland (1%) the main increases.

In Portugal, retail sales grew by 0.3% compared to March 2022.