Another difficult year is expected in German retail

According to the forecast of the German Trade Association (HDE), the turnover of the retail industry, which employs 3.1 million people, will rise from 631.9 billion euros last year to 644.5 billion this year, which is nominally a 2 percent increase, but in real terms – excluding the effect of inflation – 3 percentage decrease.

The drop in traditional in-store purchases, which make up the largest part of the turnover, could be even greater, 4 percent in real terms. Online retail, on the other hand, may expand again this year, its turnover may rise from 85 billion euros to 91 billion euros, which is a nominal increase of 8 percent and 4 percent in real terms.