BRUSSELS (AFX) - Euro zone retail sales rose 0.3 pct in March from February and were up 2.0 pct year-on-year, the EU statistics office Eurostat said. An AFX News consensus of economists' forecasts was for a 1.8 pct increase from a year earlier. In the EU-15, March retail sales rose 0.2 pct from February and were up 2.6 pct year-on-year. The euro zone's retail sales of food, drinks and tobacco rose 0.3 pct from February and 2.6 pct year-on year. Euro zone non-food products sales were unchanged from February but up 0.1 pct year-on-year. Amongst the non-food component, euro zone sales of textiles, clothing and footwear fell 0.2 pct month-on-month but rose 1.6 pct from a year earlier, while household goods were down 0.8 pct from February and 1.9 pct lower year-on-year. Euro zone books, newspapers and other specialised store sales rose 1.0 pct month-on-month but fell 0.5 pct from a year earlier. By country, month-on-month sales decreased only in Belgium, by 2.6 pct, and the Netherlands, by 0.1 pct. The strongest month-on-month rises were posted in Portugal, 3.8 pct, Sweden, 1.5 pct, and Ireland, 1.2 pct. Year-on-year, retail sales rose in all EU countries for which figures are available, except for Germany, down 1.2 pct, and the Netherlands, 0.5 pct lower. The highest annual growth rates were posted in Spain, 8.7 pct, Portugal, 8.2 pct, the UK, 5.0 pct, Sweden, 4.4 pct, and Italy, 3.0 pct.