Eurozone retail sales fell 0.4% month-on-month in July, the statistical office of the European Union said on Wednesday.

Analysts had expected a lesser 0.3% decline after growth of 0.3% in June.

July's decrease was due to a 0.6% fall in food, drinks and tobacco sales and a 0.2% dip in the non-food sector. Automotive fuel sales, meanwhile, rose 0.5%.

The report said the largest declines in retail trade were in Austria where sales slipped 1.5% and in Germany where sales fell 1.4%.The highest increase was registered in Portugal at 2.6% and Latvia at 2.2%.

When compared with July of last year, the volume of retail trade in the Eurozone rose 0.8%, but came in short of the 0.9% growth expected.

The report said that the annual rate of UK retail sales growth eased to 2.1% in July, from 3.5% in June. Month-on-month, sales fell 0.2% in July after the 0.1% growth in June.

JF

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