BRUSSELS (AFX) - Euro zone retail sales fell 0.4 pct in March from February, while they were up 1.6 pct year-on-year, the EU's Eurostat statistical office said.
In the EU 15, retail sales fell 0.3 pct in March from February but were up 2.1 pct year-on-year, Eurostat said.
In the euro zone, textiles, clothing and footwear sales fell 2.0 pct in March from February, but rose 1.9 pct from a year earlier, it said.
Euro zone food, drink and tobacco sales were down 0.6 pct in March and were up 0.6 pct year-on-year, while household goods sales fell 1.4 pct in March and were down 1.0 pct year-on-year, it said.
In the EU 15, textiles, clothing and footwear sales dropped 0.1 pct in March, but rose 2.9 pct year-on-year, it said.
EU 15 food, drink and tobacco sales fell 0.7 pct in March and rose 1.1 pct year-on-year, while household goods sales fell 0.7 pct in March and rose 0.4 pct year-on-year, it said.
On a monthly basis, the volume of retail trade fell in Spain, down 0.9 pct, the Netherlands, down 0.4 pct, and Italy, down 0.2 pct. "Moderate" growth rates were seen in Belgium, up 0.6 pct, Ireland, up 0.5 pct, Sweden, up 0.3 pct, Germany, up 0.2 pct, and the UK, up 0.1 pct, it said.
Retail sales rose on a yearly basis in all member states where data was available, except in Italy, down 1.2 pct, it said.
The sharpest yearly growth rates were posted in Ireland, up 8.9 pct, Finland, up 7.5 pct, the UK, up 4.3 pct, and in Spain, up 3.3 pct, it said.
The yearly data is calculated as the average of the monthly indices of the year compared to the average of the indices of the previous year, it said.
With Greece entering the euro zone as of Jan 2001, the weights of the member states for total retail trade have changed, it said. EU 15 and euro zone aggregates data from previous months has been revised to account for a revision of methodology on data received from France, it said.
This results in a revision of the euro zone's February rise in retail sales to 1.6 pct from a year earlier, compared with 1.2 pct previously.
The euro zone rise in February from January is unchanged at 0.1 pct, it said.
EU 15 retail sales in February rose 2.2 pct on a yearly basis and 0.1 pct year-on-year, compared with the previously reported 1.9 pct yearly rise and 0.1 pct rise from January, it said.
French data for February and March are confidential, as they has not yet been released in France, it said.