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Weaker retail business

August 30, 2013

German retailers have experienced a second consecutive monthly drop in revenues. Federal statisticians viewed this as result of rising consumer uncertainty about future economic developments in Europe's powerhouse.

https://p.dw.com/p/19Yqk
A girl looking at clothes in a retail shop in Germany Photo: Oliver Killig +++(c) dpa - Report+++
Image: picture-alliance/dpa

German retail sales dipped by 1.3 percent in nominal terms and 1.4 percent in adjusted terms in July on a month-on-month basis, the Federal Statistics Office (Destatis) reported Friday.

It was the second monthly drop in a row and the biggest logged so far in the current year, the office announced. The renewed decrease came as a surprise as analysts had penciled in a 0.5-percent rise in adjusted terms for July.

Mixed outlook

The figures didn't look nearly as bad in a year-on-year comparison. Compared to July 2012, retail sales went up by 2.3 percent, with revenues from food items, beverages and tobacco seeing the strongest increase, while book and jewelry sales dropped markedly over the same period.

Consumer confidence slumps in Germany

Despite the two consecutive monthly drops In June and July, German retail sales have risen by 0.8 percent in the first seven months of 2013, with the retailers' association HDE expecting a 1-percent increase for the whole year.

Destatis researchers said that due to annual rotation regulations, some 17 percent of respondents had been replaced for the July poll which they argued could partly explain the stronger deviation from the previous month's figures.

hg/mz (dpa, Reuters)