In February 2007, compared with February 2006, the volume of retail trade grew by 1.2% in the euro area (EA13) and by 2.8% in the EU27. Compared with January 2007, the retail sales index rose by 0.3% in the euro area and by 0.5% in the EU27.

Annual changes
In February 2007, compared to February 2006, retail trade of “food, drinks and tobacco” fell by 0.5% in the euro area but grew by 0.5% in the EU27. The non food sector increased by 2.4% and 4.6% respectively.
Among the Member States for which data are available, total retail trade rose in Latvia (+28.8%), Estonia (+17.8%), Poland (+13.0%), Lithuania (+10.4%), Bulgaria (+10.2%), Sweden (+6.9%), Finland (+6.6%), the United Kingdom (+4.9%), Slovakia (+4.7%), Spain (+3.9%), Luxembourg (+2.7%), Austria (+2.4%) and in Belgium (+1.1%), remained stable in Denmark, while falls were recorded in Portugal (-2.2%) and Germany
(-1.7%).

Monthly changes
In February 2007, compared with January 2007, “food, drinks and tobacco” grew by 0.3% in the euro area and by 0.4% in the EU27. The non food sector rose by 0.5% and 0.8% respectively.

Among the Member States for which data are available, total retail trade increased in Luxembourg (+3.5%), Slovakia (+3.0%), Poland (+2.3%), Latvia (+1.6%), Finland (+1.1%), Germany and the United Kingdom (both +1.0%), Bulgaria (+0.9%), Austria (+0.7%), Spain (+0.5%) and in Sweden (+0.4%), remained stable in Denmark, while falls were recorded in Portugal (-0.9%), Belgium, (-0.8%), Lithuania (-0.5%) and Estonia (-0.1%).