Malta registered the fifth highest increase in retail trade in the EU in September, figures released from Eurostat yesterday show.

Malta registered a 1.4% increase in that month, following a series of negative months going back to April.

Among the member states for which data are available, total retail trade rose in 12 and fell in eight. The highest increases were registered in Denmark (+2.4%), Estonia (+2.0%) and Germany (+1.5%), and the largest decreases in Spain (-7.3%), Portugal (-4.0%) and Slovenia (-2.7%).

Things do not look so rosy, however, on a comparison on an annual basis the increase here is of just 0.3%.

On an annual basis, among the member states for which data are available, total retail trade rose in 13, fell in seven and remained stable in Germany. The highest increases were observed in Estonia (+9.9%), Latvia (+7.9%) and Luxembourg (+7.1%), and the largest decreases in Spain (-12.6%), Portugal (-5.8%) and Slovenia (-4.5%).

In September compared with August, the volume of retail trade fell by 0.2% in the euro area (EA17) and rose by 0.1% in the EU27. In August retail trade increased by 0.2% in the euro area and remained stable in the EU27.

In September, compared with September 2011, the retail sales index fell by 0.8% in the euro area and increased by 0.3% in the EU27.

These first estimates come from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.