Euro Area Retail Trade, August 2026 — Volume Up 0.1% on the Month and 0.8% on the Year

As of 7 October 2026 (KST); Eurostat first estimates for August 2026, released 6 October 2026. Primary source: Eurostat Euro indicators, "Volume of retail trade up by 0.1% in both the euro area and the EU" — https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-euro-indicators/w/4-06102026-ap^[1]

Comparison basis: Eurostat compares August with July on calendar and seasonally adjusted data, and with August 2025 on calendar adjusted data only. Figures are rounded to one decimal place; the percentage-point changes in the monthly rates are this page's calculations from those rounded figures. July rates are as shown in the 6 October release (the EU July rate and both annual July rates were revised).^[1]

In three lines 1. Euro area retail trade volume rose 0.1% in August 2026 from July, after a 0.6% fall; it was 0.8% higher than in August 2025. 2. Non-food products rose 0.5% on the month and food, drinks and tobacco 0.1%, while automotive fuel fell 1.9%. 3. In the EU, volume rose 0.1% on the month and 1.2% on the year; Romania (+2.3%) and Luxembourg (-9.4%) had the largest monthly moves.^[1]

Volume of retail trade: retail turnover adjusted for price changes (deflated), i.e. the evolution of the total amount of goods sold. It is not the value of sales in euros.^[1]

Monthly change uses calendar and seasonally adjusted data; annual change uses calendar adjusted data. Euro area and EU seasonally adjusted series are built by aggregating seasonally adjusted national data. The euro area is EA21 (including Bulgaria); the EU is EU27.^[1]

First estimates: August figures are first estimates; the July figures shown are as revised in this release. "c" in Eurostat's tables marks confidential data (Czechia and Greece for August).^[1]

Among Member States with data, Eurostat names the highest monthly increases in Romania (+2.3%), Sweden (+1.4%) and Germany (+1.3%), and the largest decreases in Luxembourg (-9.4%), Malta (-1.9%) and Latvia (-1.4%). The highest annual increases were in Sweden (+7.7%), Cyprus (+7.5%) and Estonia (+6.0%); annual decreases were in Malta (-2.4%), Spain (-0.6%), Italy (-0.5%) and Germany (-0.4%).^[1]

Monthly vs annual. +0.1% compares August with July on seasonally adjusted data; +0.8% compares August 2026 with August 2025 on calendar adjusted data. The two use different adjustments, so they are not two readings of the same index.^[1]

Seasonally adjusted vs calendar adjusted index. The euro area calendar and seasonally adjusted index moved from 104.2 to 104.3 between July and August, while the calendar adjusted (not seasonally adjusted) index moved from 102.5 to 107.1. For France the calendar adjusted index went from 90.1 to 127.4. Eurostat makes its monthly comparisons on the seasonally adjusted series.^[1]

Volume vs value. The index is deflated: it tracks the quantity of goods sold, not the euro value of sales, so price increases alone do not raise it.^[1]

Euro area vs EU. Both rose 0.1% on the month; on the year the EU (+1.2%) grew faster than the euro area (+0.8%).^[1]

Compared with the 4 September 2026 release, the July monthly change was unchanged at -0.6% in the euro area and revised from -0.4% to -0.5% in the EU; the July annual change was revised from +0.6% to +0.4% in the euro area and from +1.0% to +0.9% in the EU.^[1]

Next release: 6 November 2026.^[1]

The euro area monthly rate moved from -0.6% in July to +0.1% in August (+0.7 pp), while the non-food monthly rate moved from -1.2% to +0.5% and the automotive fuel rate went the other way (from -0.2% to -1.9%). This is a description of the published rates; the release does not state causes.^[1]