RETAIL TRADE IN BULGARIA AMONG WORST PERFORMERS IN EU

Retail trade in Bulgaria decreased by 12.4 per cent between February 2009 and February 2010, according to EU statistics office Eurostat – putting the country among the biggest losers in retail trade on an annual basis, sofiaecho reported on Thursday.

In February 2010, compared with January 2010, the volume of retail trade decreased by 0.6 per cent in the euro area and remained stable in the 27-member EU bloc.

In January, retail trade fell by 0.2 per cent and 0.4 per cent, respectively.

In February 2010, compared with February 2009, the retail sales index declined by 1.1 per cent in the euro area and by 0.7 per cent in the EU27.

In February 2010, compared with January 2010, 'Food, drinks and tobacco' fell by 1.6 per cent in the euro area and by 1.3 per cent in the EU27. The non food sector rose by 0.2 per cent and 0.6 per cent, respectively.

Eurostat said that among the EU member states for which data are available, total retail trade fell in 13 and rose in seven.

The largest decreases were observed in Portugal (-3.4 per cent), Estonia (-2.3 per cent) and Slovenia (-1.7 per cent), and the highest increases in the United Kingdom (+2.2 per cent), Malta (+0.9 per cent) and France (+0.6 per cent).

In February 2010, compared with February 2009, 'Food, drinks and tobacco' fell by 3.1 per cent in the euro area and by 2.7 per cent in the EU27. The non food sector grew by 0.7 per cent and 2.1 per cent, respectively.

Among the member states for which data are available, total retail trade fell in 14 and rose in six.

The largest decreases were observed in Lithuania (-17.1 per cent), Latvia (-13.3 per cent) and Bulgaria (-12.4 per cent), and the highest increases in Austria (+3.2 per cent), Malta (+3.1 per cent) and the United Kingdom (+2.8 per cent).

On April 7 2010, Eurostat released GDP figures, showing that in the euro zone, GDP was stable while EU27 GDP increased by 0.1 per cent during the fourth quarter of 2009, compared with the previous quarter.

In the third quarter of 2009, growth rates were +0.4 per cent in the euro area and +0.3 per cent in the EU27.

In comparison with the same quarter of the previous year, seasonally adjusted GDP declined in the fourth quarter of 2009 by 2.2 per cent in the euro area and by 2.3 per cent in the EU27, after -4.1 per cent and -4.3 per cent, respectively, in the previous quarter.

In the fourth quarter of 2009, among member states for which seasonally adjusted GDP data are available, Estonia (+2.5 per cent) recorded the highest growth rate compared with the previous quarter, followed by Slovakia (+2 per cent) and Poland (+1.2 per cent).