Romania records fourth largest retail sales increase in EU

Romania posted in January the fourth biggest year-on-year increase in retail sales in the European Union (EU), of 7.3%. Only Luxembourg, Hungary, and Poland surpassed Romania, according to EU’s statistical office Eurostat. At EU level, retail trade went up by 4% in January over the same month in 2014, due to the increase in sales of fuel and non-food goods. Compared to December last year, the increase was of 0.8%. Finland’s retail sales went down by 1.2% year-on-year, whereas Belgium recorded a 0.3% decrease in its retail trade. Compared to December 2014, the largest increases occurred in Portugal (6.8%), Poland (3.1%) and Germany (2.9%), whereas retail trade dropped in Great Britain by 0.9% or in Lithuania by 0.5%. editor@romania-insider.com