German retail sales see sharpest decline in two years

(Sharecast News) - Retail sales in Germany unexpectedly dropped by their most in more than two years in December, according to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on Friday.

Retail sales fell by 1.6% over the month of December in real terms (adjusted for price), following a revised 0.1% decline in November, making the largest monthly drop since October 2022.

The consensus forecast was for a monthly increase of 0.2%.

Destatis reported that food sales were 1.7% lower than November, while non-food sales fell 0.7%.

When compared with December 2023, sales were 1.8% higher, though growth eased significantly from the 2.9% rate seen in November, missing the 2.5% increase that analysts were expecting.

For 2024 as a whole, German retail sales grew by 1.1% in real terms, as a 0.5% year-on-year decline in the first half was offset by 2.6% growth in the second.

However, compared with 2021 - the strongest year for retail sales since records began in 1994 - annual industry turnover was down 2.9%.