Malta saw a drop in retail trade of 2.5 per cent in July, compared with a year earlier, the highest decrease in the EU.
The EU saw retail trade recover by one per cent over that 12-month period, with the highest increases being seen in Luxembourg (+14.1 per cent), Estonia (+9.2 per cent) and Romania (+6.3 per cent).
Eurostat reported last week that the increase in the EU28 was due to a rise of 2.4 per cent for the non-food sector, while automotive fuel fell by three per cent and food, drinks and tobacco by 0.2 per cent.