© Reuters FILE PHOTO: Shopping mall customers and employees watch a demonstration by the Patriotic European Union for the Islamization of the West (PEGIDA) supporters and opponents in Frankfurt January 26, 2015. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Euro zone retail sales rose in July, but a weaker-than-expected decline in demand for non-food products, the European Union’s statistics office Eurostat showed on Monday.
Eurostat said retail sales in the 19 countries that share the euro, a proxy for consumer demand, rose 0.3% month-on-month in July against a 0.9% year-on-year decline. Economists polled by Reuters had expected a 0.4% monthly increase and a 0.7% year-on-year decline.
Eurostat said sales of non-food products, excluding automotive fuel, fell 0.4% month-on-month, down 0.9% month-on-month. Automotive fuel sales increased 0.4% for the month and 0.6% for the year.