German retail sales decreased in July

The German statistical office, Destatis, announced on Thursday that retail sales fell by 0.8 percent in July compared to June, when I also recorded a monthly decrease of 0.8 percent. The average of expert expectations was a monthly increase of 0.3 percent in real terms for July.

Food sales increased by 2.0 percent and non-food products by 0.2 percent in real terms, while clothing sales fell by 3.3 percent.

Compared to July of last year, the decrease in retail sales was 2.2 percent, exceeding the experts’ expectations of a 1 percent decrease. In June, retail sales shrank more modestly, by 1.6 percent on an annual basis.
At current prices, the decrease in one month was also 0.8 percent in July, but in a year-on-year comparison, Destatis data showed a 2.7 percent increase.