In December, only fuel consumption was higher than in November, according to Eurostat figures.
Portugal was one of the European Union countries where retail sales fell most in December compared to the previous month. In the last month of the year, there was a decrease of 3.1% compared to the record in November, reveal data released on Monday by the European statistics office Eurostat.
Among the 25 countries for which data is available, Portugal had the sixth worst performance, tied with Belgium. The Netherlands had the most significant drop (-6.3%), followed by Germany (-5.3%).
In Europe, retail sales fell by an average of 2.6%, with all categories losing importance. The only exception was motor fuel purchases, which rose 2.3% from November. The biggest decline in consumption was in food, drink and tobacco.
Compared to the same month in 2021, Portugal recorded a 0.7% increase in retail sales. In this case, only eight countries managed to improve their performance.
