The European Union's statistics office Eurostat said on Wednesday that retail sales in the 19 countries sharing the euro were up 0.3 percent month-on-month for a 1.7 percent year-on-year gain.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected a 0.2 percent monthly rise and a 2.1 percent annual increase.

Eurostat also revised downwards September data to a 0.5 percent month-on-month decline from a previous flat reading and to a 0.3 percent year-on-year gain from a previous 0.8 percent increase.

Sales of non-food products were down 0.1 percent in the month after a 0.7 percent decline in September. However, mail orders and internet purchases rose 0.9 percent in the month and by 9.9 percent year-on-year.

Euro zone economic growth slowed to a four-year low of 0.2 percent quarter-on-quarter in the third quarter of 2018, Eurostat has estimated, after expansion of 0.4 percent in both the first and second quarter.