Retail sales in the euro zone rose sharply in January, the European Union statistics agency said this morning.
Retail sales jumped by a stronger-than-expected 2.4 per cent in January from December, Eurostat said, fuelling hope consumers might give fresh stimulus to the region's faltering recovery .
For the first time the agency published an estimate of retail sales in the 12-nation zone just over a month after the end of the period rather than the usual two months.
Compared with January 2003, retail sales were up by 1 per cent in January 2004, mainly fuelled by a 2.1 per cent rise in the sale of food, drinks and tobacco.
The data comes after strong retail sales in Germany and France, the two largest euro zone economies, ignited hopes that consumers could finally help propel growth and counter some of the strength of the euro, which is hitting exports hard.
Yesterday, data showed that the pace of exports from the euro zone slowed sharply in the fourth quarter of last year as the strong euro made the region's products more expensive in other countries, raising fears the economic recovery might stall before it gets fully on track.