German retail sales post sharpest fall since late-2022

(Sharecast News) - Retail sales in Germany dropped by their most in over two and a half years in May, according to data from the Federal Statistical Office on Monday. Retail sales were down 1.6% last month, following a 0.6% decline in April, Destatis reported. The consensus forecast was pointing to growth of 0.5%.

This was the steepest rate of a decline since October 2022.

Sales fell across the board, with food sales down 1.3%, non-food sales 2.2% lower and online sales dropping 1.4%.

Compared with May 2024, retail sales were still up 1.6%, though this was a sharp slowdown from the 2.9% annual increase reported in April.

This was well below analysts' estimates of an acceleration to 3.3% the weakest rate of annual growth since July 2024.