Retail sales in the Euro Area unexpectedly declined by 0.3% month-on-month in June 2026, nearly wiping out an upwardly revised 0.4% increase in May and confounding market expectations of a 0.1% rise. Sales fell for food, drinks and tobacco (-0.5% vs +0.4% in May) and for non-food products excluding automotive fuel (-0.4% vs +0.5%), while sales of automotive fuel rebounded (1.5% vs -1.8%).
Among the bloc’s largest economies, retail sales decreased in Germany (-1.1% vs +1.2%) and France (-0.5% vs -0.1%), but rose in Italy (+0.2% vs -0.3%), Spain (+0.3% vs +0.6%) and the Netherlands (+0.4% vs -0.1%).
On an annual basis, retail sales were up 0.7%, the weakest increase since July 2024, following an upwardly revised 1.9% gain in May and falling short of the 1% growth projected by analysts.
