However, the data highlights a significant decline in the Romanian retail sector, which recorded a 4.0% month-on-month decrease—the largest drop among all Member States. This decline marks a dramatic shift, as annual growth turned negative at -3.8% year-on-year, breaking a five-month streak of positive growth.
While the EU saw an annual increase of 1.1% in retail sales, with notable growth in Cyprus (+9.4%), Malta (+9.2%), and Luxembourg (+7.3%), Romania was at the opposite end of the spectrum. The country's -3.8% year-on-year decrease was the most significant fall recorded, followed by France (-1.4%) and Finland (-1.2%). This divergence underscores a specific weakness in the Romanian market for the month of August.
In the wider EU context, the volume of retail trade saw a slight increase in food, drinks, and tobacco (+0.2%) and in automotive fuel (+0.3%). Non-food products experienced a minor decrease of 0.1%.
