Germany retail turnover declined more than expected in April due to a record fall in food sales, data released by Destatis showed on Wednesday.
Retail turnover decreased 5.4 percent on a monthly basis in April, reversing a 0.9 percent rise in March. Sales were forecast to drop marginally by 0.2 percent.
Turnover reached the lowest level since February 2021.
Food turnover decreased 7.7 percent on a monthly basis, which was the biggest fall since the series began in 1994. At the same time, non-food sales dropped 4.4 percent.
Year-on-year, retail sales dropped by real 0.4 percent, confounding expectations for an increase of 4.0 percent. Sales were up 6.2 percent in nominal terms.
