Dutch April Retail Sales Rise At Fastest Rate Since Nov 2010

(RTTNews) - Dutch retail sales rose at the fastest annual rate in more than three years in May, recovering from decline in the previous month, a report from the Central Bureau of Statistics showed Friday.

Retail sales recovered to 3.4 percent year-over-year in April, following a 1.9 percent fall in the previous month. That was the biggest increase since November 2010.

The rise in sales was driven mainly by an increase in consumer purchases, mainly in food and beverage stores.

Food sales grew 6.6 percent in April. Non-food sales, accounting for almost half of the total sales, rose 2 percent.

This marked the fourth consecutive month of increase in non-food sales and the longest sequence of non-food sales growth in six years.

The hike in supermarket and specialty store sales in April was mainly due to Easter, the report said. Internet shopping rose 13 percent year-over-year in April.