In the EU, retail trade volume for food, drinks and tobacco increased 0.6% month-on-month in May 2026, while non-food products (excluding automotive fuel) rose 0.5% and automotive fuel sales in specialised stores declined 0.4%. Among Member States, the largest monthly increases were recorded in Cyprus (+3.7%), Luxembourg (+3.6%) and Poland (+2.4%), while the largest decreases occurred in Estonia (-2.2%), Croatia (-2.0%), Belgium and Lithuania (both -0.7%).

On an annual basis, EU retail trade volume grew 1.9% compared with May 2025, with the strongest increases posted in Cyprus (+8.4%), Bulgaria (+7.9%) and Luxembourg (+7.8%). Romania recorded the sharpest annual decline (-4.0%), followed by Estonia (-0.5%) and Belgium (-0.4%). The data, based on the sts_trtu_m dataset, are calendar and seasonally adjusted and cover all EU Member States, alongside comparative figures for Norway and Switzerland.

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