In the Euro Area, retail sales show the evolution of the total amount of goods sold. Among them, food drinks and tobacco account for the highest share (39.3 percent); followed by electrical goods and furniture (12.0 percent share); computer equipment books and other (11.4 percent share); pharmaceutical and medical goods (9.9 percent share); textiles, clothing, footwear (9.2 percent share); auto fuel (9.1 percent share); other non-food products (6.0 percent share) and mail orders and internet (2.9 percent share). Among countries, Germany has the highest weight (25.9 percent), followed by France (21.7 percent), Italy (16.1 percent) and Spain (11.4 percent). Others are Netherlands (5.2 percent); Belgium (4.3 percent); Greece (3.0 percent); Austria (2.8 percent); Portugal (2.4 percent); Finland (1.8 percent); Ireland (1.7 percent); Luxembourg and Slovakia (0.8 percent each); Slovenia (0.6 percent); Lithuania (0.4 percent); Latvia and Cyprus (0.3 percent); Estonia (0.2 percent) and Malta (0.1 percent).
A higher than expected figure should be seen as positive (bullish) for the EUR while a lower than expected figure should be seen as negative (bearish) for the EUR.