Germany's retail sales experienced an unexpected decline in December, according to data released by Destatis on Friday. While economists had anticipated that sales would remain unchanged, there was a 1.6 percent increase on a monthly basis.
The contraction can be attributed to a 1.7 percent decrease in food sales and a 0.7 percent reduction in non-food retail sales. In nominal terms, retail sales saw a decrease of 0.9 percent compared to the previous month.
Year-on-year, retail sales saw a real term increase of 1.8 percent and a nominal increase of 3.0 percent in December.
Throughout the entirety of 2024, retail sales in real terms saw a 1.1 percent rise compared to 2023. When compared to the figures from the pre-coronavirus period in 2019, retail turnover in 2024 was 2.3 percent higher.
