Fashion sales in Europe continue to fall in May with a decrease of 2.4%

The fashion trade falls again in May. The turnover of retail sector in the 19 countries of the Eurozone fell by 2.4% in the fifth month of the year compared to a year ago, accumulating two months in negative.

These decreases contrasts with the upward trend with which the trade started the year and leave behind the increases of 2.7% and 1.7%, registered in February and March, respectively. According to the latest data from the European statistics agency Eurostat, the drop in sales in April and May is linked to an also falling end of 2018.

In general, last year was negative for retail sales of the sector in the European Union of 19 states. The only months in which increases were marked in the sector were April, August and October. The rest of the exercise was dyed in red, registering drops of over 2% between May and July.

In the European Union as a whole (28 countries), trade in textiles, clothing and footwear fell by 1.9%, also causing two months of setbacks. Despite starting the year with a decline of 0.6% in January, the sector's retail turnover had surged in February and March, with increases of 3.6% and 3.4%, respectively. However, in April the heading changed, with a decrease of 1.7%.

The whole of retail in Europe has shown positive growth. In both the Euro area and the European Union as a whole, total sales of retail trade increased by 1.3% compared to the fifth month of the previous year.

By countries, Luxembourg and Ireland were the territories that contributed most to the growth of the turnover of the whole of retail in Europe in the fifth month of the year, with increases of 7.4% and 7%, respectively. On the contrary, Slovakia, Denmark and Croatia penalized their advance, with falls of 2.6%, 1.7% and 1.3%, respectively.