2021.02.0410:09:00UTC+00Austria Retail Sales Rise In December

Austria retail sales rose in December, figures from Statistics Austria showed on Thursday.

Retail sales, excluding trade in motor vehicles and including petrol stations, rose 0.8 percent year-on-year in December.

In nominal terms, retail sales increased 0.9 percent annually in December.

Sales in the food-sector grew 12.7 percent, while non-food sector declined 4.5 percent, the agency said.

In 2020, retail sales declined a real 0.3 percent.

"The temporary store closings hit the clothing and shoe trade particularly hard: Here sales fell sharply by 23.7 percent," Tobias Thomas, General Director of Statistics Austria, said.

Sales of food, beverages and tobacco products grew 7.0 percent and sales in non-foodstuffs decline 3.9 percent.