In December 2013 compared with November 2013, the seasonally adjusted volume of retail trade fell by 1.6% in the euro area (EA17) and by 0.8% in the EU28, according to estimates from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

But Malta bucked the European trend by registering a 2% growth. This followed a series of negative results over the past months, with -1.7% in August, -0.2% in September, -0.8% in October and -1.8% in November. The last time there was an increase in retail trade was in August with a 2.5% increase.

Eurostat said too that among the member states for which data are available, total retail trade fell in 16 and rose in six. The largest decreases were registered in Portugal (-5.8%), Spain (-3.6%) and Germany (-2.5%), and the highest increases in the United Kingdom (+2.6%), Malta (+2.0%) and Ireland (+1.4%).