Malta sees steepest EU rise in retail trade

Malta saw by far the steepest rise in retail trade in the EU in November when compared to October, Eurostat figures issued today show.

In November 2010, compared with October 2010, the volume of retail trade fell by 0.8% in the euro area and by 0.4% in the EU27.

Total retail trade fell in nine countries and rose in eight. The largest decreases were observed in Portugal (-4.2%), Lithuania (-1.9%) and Belgium (-1.5%), and the highest increases in Malta (+5.5%), France (+0.9%) and Estonia (+0.7%).

In November 2010, compared with November 2009, “Food, drinks and tobacco” declined by 0.1% in the euro area and by 0.3% in the EU27. The non food sector gained 0.7% and 2.0% respectively.

Among the Member States for which data are available, total retail trade rose in twelve and fell in five. The highest increases were observed in Poland (+11.8%), Latvia (+8.1%) and Estonia (+7.5%), and the largest decreases in Romania (-8.9%), Bulgaria (-5.2%) and Portugal (-4.7%).

Yesterday, Eurostat also reported that in October compared to September, industrial orders in Malta were up by 6.5% compared to 1.4 in the euro area and 0.6% in the EU27. The highest increases were registered in Lithuania, Latvia, Greece and Malta.