Eurozone retail sales were unchanged on the month in October, matching expectations and highlighting a subdued consumer environment heading into year-end. Category-level data showed mixed trends: spending on food, drinks and tobacco rose 0.3% mom, while non-food products (excluding fuel) fell -0.2% mom. Automotive fuel sales increased 0.3% mom, helping offset weakness elsewhere but not enough to lift the overall index.
Retail activity across the wider EU was also flat on the month, reinforcing the picture of stagnation in household consumption. The divergence among member states remained notable. Luxembourg posted the strongest monthly gain at 3.6% mom, followed by Estonia (1.7%) and Croatia (1.4). In contrast, Belgium saw a sharp -1.3% drop, with Austria (-0.6%), Ireland (-0.4%) and Sweden (-0.4%) also reporting declines.
 fell -0.2% mom. Automotive fuel sales increased 0.3% mom, helping offset weakness elsewhere but not enough to lift the overall index.){kind=link}