Norway's retail sales decreased for the second straight month in August, mainly as a result of lower demand for information and communication technology equipment, preliminary data from Statistics Norway showed on Thursday.
Separate official data revealed that household consumption decreased at a faster rate amid weaker purchases of vehicles and petrol.
The volume of retail sales dropped a seasonally adjusted 0.3 percent month-on-month in August, though slower than the 0.9 percent increase in the prior month.
Retail sales of ICT equipment declined 4.6 percent over the month, and those of cultural and recreational goods slid 2.0 percent. Similarly, sales of automotive fuel alone showed a decline of 2.0 percent.
On a yearly basis, retail sales declined at a slightly faster pace of 2.1 percent in August, following a 1.4 percent fall a month ago.
Separate official data showed that household spending dropped 0.5 percent monthly in August versus a 0.1 percent drop in July. This was the third successive monthly fall. The decline was attributed to 2.6 percent lower purchases of vehicles and petrol.
