Retail sales in Greece rose 3.0% year-on-year in March 2026, easing from a downwardly revised 4.4% increase in February and marking the weakest annual growth since November 2025. Growth slowed in both food (2.9% vs 7.4% in February) and non-food items excluding automotive fuel (5.1% vs 8.9%), while sales of automotive fuel continued to contract but at a milder rate (-0.3% vs -3.1%).
Among specialized categories, retail activity also lost momentum in supermarkets (2.7% vs 5.7%); food, beverages, and tobacco (0.6% vs 11.4%); pharmaceutical products and cosmetics (3.9% vs 10.2%); furniture, electrical equipment, and household goods (12.5% vs 17.3%); and books, stationery, and other goods (6.9% vs 7.1%). At the same time, sales turned negative in department stores (-0.3% vs 2.7%) and declined more sharply for clothing and footwear (-3.0% vs -0.5%).
On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, retail sales fell 0.5% in April.
