Retail sales grew by a working-day 8.5% year-on-year in January, following a 0.1% rise in December.

On a month-on-month basis, retail sales excluding automobile trade rose a seasonally adjusted 1.6% in January.

Retail sales growth was largely led by sales in "clothing and footwear" and "other household equipment", the Prague-based agency said.

Separate data showed that industrial producer prices in the Czech Republic grew 21.3% year-on-year in February, after a 19.4% rise in January. On a monthly basis, producer prices rose 2.2%.