German Retail Sales Fall Unexpectedly

(RTTNews) - Germany's retail sales decreased unexpectedly in December, data from Destatis revealed on Friday.

Retail sales increased 1.6 percent on a monthly basis in December, while economists had forecast sales to remain flat.

The decline reflects a 1.7 percent drop in food sales and a 0.7 percent drop in non-food retail sales. In nominal terms, retail sales dropped 0.9 percent from a month ago.

On a yearly basis, retail sales increased 1.8 percent in real terms and by 3.0 percent in nominal terms in December.

In the whole year of 2024, retail sales in real terms were 1.1 percent more than in 2023. Compared to the pre-coronavirus level in 2019, retail turnover was 2.3 percent higher in 2024.