Retail sales growth in the 19 countries sharing the euro currency slowed sharply in March, European statistics agency Eurostat said on Friday, as consumers spent less on non-food items than in February.

Retail sales, an often revised indicator, rose by just 0.1 per cent in March for a 0.8 per cent annual increase, Eurostat said. That compared with expansion of 0.3 per cent in the month and 1.8 per cent year-on-year in February.

Analysts polled by Reuters had expected an increase of 0.5 per cent month-on-month and an annual increase of 1.9 per cent.

While their volatile nature makes retail sales an unreliable indicator, the drop is in line with a slight cooling of the euro zone economy, as underlined by slowing economic growth in the first quarter of 2018.

The slowdown in retail sales was mainly due to a decline in spending on non-food items, especially clothing and pharmaceutical goods.

Spending on food and drink increased slightly, while mail order and online shopping showed a growth of 3.3 per cent from February.

On a country-by-country basis, retail sales fell most in Ireland and Germany, while Latvia, Portugal and Austria showed a sharp increases during March.