Eurozone retail PMI falls to 51 in July

From 53.2 in June, the headline IHS Markit Eurozone Retail PMI fell to 51.0 in July. The latest reading signalled slowest rate of growth in the current four-month sequence of expansion.

Sales were down on an annual basis, thereby reversing the upturn observed in June. By country, annual sales were up sharply in France, but they declined in both Germany and Italy.

A further month of underperformance by Eurozone retailers was signalled by the July data, with actual sales falling short of targets. Moreover, the degree of the shortfall increased from June and was marked overall. The widest gap between forecast and actual sales was registered in Italy, followed by Germany. 

Continuing a trend that has been observed since data collection began in January 2004, gross margins were squeezed further in July. Moreover, the rate of contraction strengthened from the previous month and was marked, albeit weaker than the long-run series average.

In line with another squeeze on gross margins was a further rise in average purchasing costs. The rate of inflation was unchanged from June and marked overall, despite remaining below the long-run series average.