Bulgaria reported a 12.4% increase in retail volumes in March, the highest in the EU

Bulgaria reported the highest annual increase in retail trade volumes in the European Union in March 2026, of 12.4%, new data from Eurostat has found.

Other countries to report a notable annual increase in retail trade volumes included Hungary (+8.2%) and Malta (+7.5%), while year-on-year decreases were recorded in Romania (-2.3%) and Germany (-2.0%).

On a month-on-month basis, meanwhile, i.e. compared to February 2026, Slovenia (+4.3%) reported the biggest increase in retail trade volumes, followed by Luxembourg (+4.0%) and Belgium (+3.6%), while Germany (-2.1%), Malta (-0.4%), Italy (-0.1%) and Latvia (-0.1%) saw declines.

Retail sales volumes across the EU

Retail sales volumes across the euro area edged down by 0.1% in March 2026, compared to the previous month, while the wider EU recorded a modest 0.3% monthly increase, the data showed. This compares to a 0.3% month-on-month decline in February.

Compared with March 2025, retail trade volumes rose by 1.2% in the euro area and by 1.9% across the EU.

Within the euro area, food, drink and tobacco sales fell by 0.3% month-on-month in March, while automotive fuel sales declined sharply by 1.6%. Non-food products, excluding fuel, provided the main area of growth, increasing by 0.6%.

The data also highlighted ongoing resilience in non-food retail demand across Europe. Euro area non-food retail volumes were up 2.3% year-on-year, while EU-wide non-food sales increased by 3.1%, Eurostat noted.

No data was available for Czechia and Greece. Read more here.

Annual Increase/Decrease in Retail Sales Volumes by EU Member State – March 2026 (%)

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