Eurostat, the European Union's statistics agency, said the volume of retail sales in the eurozone fell 0.8% month-on-month in November and were 2.5% year-on-year, steeper fall than analysts’ 0.4% on-month dip and an 0.8% on-year decline.
The 2.5% annual decline in sales is the largest fall since September 2009, Eurostat said. The monthly fall in sales is the steepest since last May.
Sales fell in Germany and France, the eurozone's two largest economies, and in Portugal and Spain. In Ireland, retail sales rose 2% on-month, although declined 0.4% on-ear. Data for Greece and Italy weren't available.
Retail sales in October were also weaker than initially estimated, Eurostat said. October retail sales increased just 0.1% on the month, compared to a previous estimate of 0.4%, the agency said.
Meanwhile, confidence across the eurozone weakened in December as concerns over the economic environment, a survey from the European Commission showed Friday.
The overall economic sentiment indicator among the 17 countries that share the euro fell for a 10th straight month to 93.3. That was down from 93.8 in November and is the lowest level in more than a year, although it is still more than 20 points above the record low of 69.6 in March 2009.
The further drop reflects weaker outlook across all but one of the sub-sectors, the survey shows.
Consumer confidence declined further to -21.1 from November's -20.4. The services sector was also increasingly pessimistic, with the measure here falling to -2.1 in December from -1.6 a month earlier.
The retail and construction sectors also declined further in December to -11.7 and -25.2 respectively, from -11.1 and -25.0.
Confidence among manufacturers held steady at -7.1 in December from November, and was likely held up by the surprisingly resilient German industrial sector.
· A separate measure of the eurozone business climate rose for the first time in 10 months. That was in line with the latest German Ifo survey and was buoyed by a more optimistic assessment of the industrial sector due to an increase in export orders, the Commission said. The business climate survey improved to -0.31 in December from -0.42 in November. While this was the first improvement since February last year, it still represents a weak business environment, with some firms viewing tentative signs of improving orders and activity cautiously.
