Eurozone retail sales volumes declined by 0.1% month-over-month in March 2026, marking the third consecutive monthly drop but outperforming market expectations of a 0.3% fall. Fuel sales led the decline, plunging 1.6%, the steepest decrease since August 2023, due to rising fuel costs tied to the Middle East war. Food trade also fell by 0.3%, following a 0.5% drop in the previous month. In contrast, non-food product sales rose by 0.6%, the first increase since November. Among the bloc’s largest economies, sales fell in Germany (-2.1%) and Italy (-0.1%), but increased in Spain (1.2%), the Netherlands (1.1%) and France (0.2%). Annually, retail trade growth slowed to 1.2% in March from 1.3%, slightly above forecasts of 1%.