Romania's retail hikes 23.3% in June, sees the highest annual growth rate in the EU, statistics show

Romania saw the highest annual growth in retail in the European Union (EU) in June, of 23.3 percent, outpacing Slovenia and Poland, according to data published by the European statistics office Eurostat.

Only nine out of 18 countries members of the EU that published data for the period June 2007 - June 2008 posted hikes in retail. The most significant drops were registered by Latvia (8.3 percent), Spain (7.7 percent) and Estonia (7.2 percent).

Romania ranked first in terms of retail's monthly growth rate, with 4.1 percent advance in June over May. Other increases were recorded in Sweden (1.7 percent) and Bulgaria (0.4 percent), while the retail idled in Denmark.

The retail was reduced in 13 countries members of the EU in June versus the previous month, the most important drops being registered in Austria (4.1 percent), Lithuania (2.8 percent), Portugal (2.3 percent) and Latvia (2.2 percent).

The retail depreciated 1.1 percent in June 2008 versus June 2007 at the EU level. In Eurozone, retail sales dipped 3.1 percent. Compared to May 2008, retail lost 1 percent in the European bloc and 0.6 percent in Eurozone.

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