German July retail sales fall, miss forecasts

German retail sales fell by 0.8% month-to-month in July, missing forecasts of a 0.3% increase, according to official data released on Thursday.

On an annual basis, sales fell 2.2%, from a 1.6% decline in June, and below the consensus estimate of a 1.0% decrease.

Lower sales of clothing, shoes and hardware drove the decline, offsetting a rebound in food and increased online sales.

Real food sales fell 1.8%, but on a nominal basis rose 6.8% compared to July 2022. "This means that real sales in the food retail sector have now declined for 25 months in a row compared to the same month last year," the German statistics office said in a statement.

"This decline in real sales, combined with a significant increase in nominal sales, means that consumers bought less food compared to the same months last year, but had to spend significantly more money on it."

Turnover in textiles, clothing, footwear and leather goods was 3.3% lower in real terms than in the previous month, but increased 4.7% compared with July 2022. In comparison, real sales in DIY stores declined both in the previous month (-2.4%) and in the same month a year earlier (-5.7%).

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com