Luxembourg reported the biggest increase in retail volumes in January

Luxembourg reported a 24.7% increase in retail trade volumes in Europe in January 2026, well ahead of any other EU member state, new data from Eurostat has revealed.

Other countries to report a notable annual increase in retail sales included Lithuania (+9.3%), Estonia (+8.7%), Cyprus (+7.6%), Poland (+6.6%) and Latvia (+6.0%).

Year-on-year decreases were recorded in Slovakia (-3.1%) and Slovenia (-1.5%). No data was available for Czechia, Greece and Romania.

Retail trade volumes across the EU

Across the EU, seasonally adjusted retail trade volumes were up 2.3% in January on a year-on-year basis, while euro area trade volumes rose by 2.0%.

On an annual basis, the volume of retail trade in the EU increased for all major categories, with food, drinks, and tobacco rising by 1.3%, non-food products up 2.9%, and automotive fuel rising by 2.0%. In the euro area, meanwhile, food, drinks, and tobacco rose by 1.4%, non-food products by 2.4%, and automotive fuel by 0.7%.

On a month-on-month basis, i.e. compared to December 2025, the seasonally-adjusted data indicated that the volume of retail trade rose by 0.1% in the EU, and decreased by 0.1% in the euro area, Eurostat noted.

The biggest month-on-month increases in retail trade were recorded in Estonia (+4.4%), Latvia (+2.8%) and Portugal (+2.0%), while the largest declines were seen in Slovakia (-3.5%), Slovenia (-1.9%) and Croatia (-1.3%). Read more here.

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

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