According to Eurostat, eurozone retail sales fell by 0.3% in December 2016 after declining by 0.6% in November. From December 2015, sales grew by 1.1%.

Analysts had projected a 0.3% increase and a 1.8% rise, respectively.

In the EU countries, retail sales dropped by 0.8% in December after falling by 0.1% in the previous month. On a yearly basis, sales rose by 2.3%

The biggest monthly declines were in Finland (-3.2%), the UK (-2.8%), Ireland and Sweden (-2.7%). The largest increases were seen in Luxembourg (1.9%), Belgium (1.1%) and France (0.8%).

The greatest yearly growth was witnessed in Luxembourg (14.7%), Slovenia (10.1%), Romania (7.9%) and the UK (6.6%), while the biggest annual declines were in Finland (-2.2%), Germany (-1.1%), Denmark and Austria (-1%), and Malta (-0.7%).