Spanish retail sales dropped 7.8 percent year-on-year in November, data showed on Friday, marking 29 months of straight falls in a recession-hit country where the consumer outlook is grim.
The calendar-adjusted figure compares to a slide of 9.7 percent in October. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected sales to drop 10 percent in November.
Retail sales have been particularly weak since Spain's government hiked value added tax to 21 percent from 18 percent on Sept. 1, with that month's 11 percent drop the sharpest fall on record, according to the National Statistics Institute.
Consumer confidence has plummeted in Spain, where one in four of the workforce is jobless and the economy is not expected to grow until 2014.
Sales in the retail sector officially start next month, but shops are already offering discounts on some items. Spain's trade federation said Christmas shopping did not go as well as expected and sales were down compared to 2011.
Spaniards were expected to spend 3.9 percent less on Christmas this year, cutting back on food, gifts and entertainment, according to a Deloitte study.
