Euro-area retailers gave up August’s gain in September. Price-adjusted sales volumes fell 0.7% from the previous month, according to first estimates released on 6 November 2026 by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. Germany recorded a 2.0% fall, the steepest among EU member states for which Eurostat published a September figure.
Key facts
- The euro area’s 0.7% September decline followed a revised rise of 0.4% in August from July.
- EU retail volumes fell 0.6% from August but were 0.9% above September 2025 on a calendar-adjusted basis.
- Eurostat’s next retail trade release is scheduled for 4 December 2026.
Where did sales volumes fall most?
In the euro area, the monthly decline was steeper for non-food goods excluding automotive fuel, at 1.2%, than for food, drinks and tobacco, at 0.3%. The volume of fuel sold by specialist retailers rose 1.0%. The same categories moved in the same directions across the EU, with non-food goods excluding fuel down 1.0%, food, drinks and tobacco down 0.4%, and specialist fuel retailing up 0.1%.
The table shows the three largest reported monthly falls among EU member states. The annual comparison shows how September volumes in those countries stood against the same month of 2025. The release did not make September figures public for Czechia or Greece.
| Country | September vs August 2026 | September 2026 vs September 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | −2.0% | −2.4% |
| Romania | −1.3% | −2.3% |
| Portugal | −0.9% | −0.2% |
Eurostat adjusts the monthly comparison for calendar and seasonal effects and the annual comparison for calendar effects. Across the euro area, retail volumes remained 0.4% above September 2025. In August, the corresponding year-on-year increase had been 1.3%. The month-on-month decline thus came alongside a narrower lead over the previous year.
What do Germany’s turnover figures add?
Germany’s Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) reported a 2.0% real decline from August in its national release on 2 November. Turnover in current prices fell 1.5% from August. Compared with September 2025, it rose 1.2% in nominal terms while falling 2.3% in real terms. Eurostat’s calendar-adjusted annual figure for Germany is a fall of 2.4%. The releases use different adjustments for the annual comparison.
Destatis also revised August’s real monthly increase for Germany to 1.2%, from its initial estimate of 1.3%. That is a revision to the national series for August, separate from the first September figures in the European release.
The national report also shows why the choice of comparison matters for individual parts of retail. German internet and mail-order retail turnover fell 2.2% in real terms from August but was 4.4% higher than a year earlier. Those figures describe the internet and mail-order category in Germany’s national release. They do not measure online sales across the euro area.
The latest German figures use a new sample of legal entities in retail. Destatis applied it back to January 2026, extending the existing index series using changes from matched entities to preserve comparability. That can lead to revisions for earlier months of 2026. Eurostat has already revised August’s monthly rise for both the euro area and the EU from 0.1% to 0.4%. Its 4 December release will add the next month to the comparison.
