Euro zone retails sales stronger than expected in February

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Euro zone retail sales, a proxy for household spending, rose more than expected in February as rising consumer demand in France and Spain offset a fall in Germany, data showed on Tuesday.

The European Union's statistics office Eurostat said retail sales in the 19 countries sharing the euro rose 0.2 percent month-on-month for a 2.4 percent year-on-year gain.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected a flat monthly reading and a 1.9 percent annual rise.

Eurostat data showed retail sales in the euro zone's biggest economy Germany fell 0.4 percent month-on-month in February after a 0.1 percent decline in January.

But sales in second biggest France rose 0.6 percent on the months and they were 0.2 percent higher in fourth biggest Spain. There was no data for third biggest Italy.

(Reporting By Jan Strupczewski; editing by Robert-Jan Bartunek)