The Romanian retail market grew 6.8% in November 2008 compared to November 2007, placing first in the EU for the six consecutive month, according to Eurostat data released on Friday.
Eurostat also reported moderate progress on the retail markets in Poland and Slovenia, where the annual growth rate was 6.2% and, respectively, 5.4%. However, Latvia, Estonia and Spain reported significant regress for the 11th month of 2008 compared to the corresponding month of 2007: 15.1%, 9.3% and 7.8%. In November, the retail index decreased by 0.2% in the European Union and by 1.5% in the EuroZone, compared to the same month of 2007.
At EU level, retail of food, beverages and tobacco regressed by 0.6% compared to November 2007. In the EuroZone, the regress was 1.3% for the same categories of products. Sales of non-edible products gained 0.1% in the UE and decreased by 1.5% in the EuroZone.
Romania reported a 0.5% decrease in retail compared to October 2008, as opposed to the EU and the EuroZone, which reported progress of 0.3% and, respectively, 0.6%.