Eurozone retail sales fell much more than expected in April due to declining consumer confidence among households and rising inflation, the European Union’s statistics agency Eurostat said Friday.
The volume of retail sales declined 1.3% in April compared with the previous month, Eurostat said. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had forecast a 0.1% increase.
Eurostat revised retail sales data for March, and following the revision, the volume of retail sales rose 0.3%, instead of the 0.4% on-month drop previously estimated.
Eurostat said sales decreased 2.6% for food, drinks and tobacco and 0.7% for non-food products in April, while they increased 1.9% for automotive fuels.
On an on-year basis, the volume of retail sales in April was up 3.9%, Eurostat said.
Eurostat also revised March’s figure. Following the revision, retail sales increased 1.6% on year, instead of 0.8%.
Write to Maria Martinez at maria.martinez@wsj.com