According to the country’s Statistics Office, German retail sales fell by 2.3% last month, falling behind analysts’ forecast of 0.4% increase.
This has been the biggest monthly drop in German retail sales since March 2008.
Experts find this sharp fall in retail sales surprising because German economy is continuing to grow. In addition, the country’s level of unemployment has also declined below 3 million.
Carsten Brzeski, Ing Financial Markets Senior Economist found the retail sales figures “clearly disappointing “, but also mentioned that the German retail sales figures fluctuate and are often revised.
Nonetheless, the sales were up 0.4% in real terms on annual basis. Statistics Office data indicates that on an annualized basis, there has been a growth of 3.1% in non food sales (non including automobile or petrol sales) but a fall of 3.5% in sales of tobacco, food and drink.
