German retail sales bounce back in October

Retail sales in Germany rose much more than expected in October, according to figures out Thursday by Destatis, the federal statistics office.

Retail sales rose by 1.1%, rebounding after a 0.8% decline in September, and well ahead of the 0.4% gain expected by analysts.

Food retail sales were down 1.3% during the month but non-food retail sales rose 1.4%, with online and mail-order trade up 2.9%.

Compared with October 2022, total retail sales were down just 0.1% after a 4.3% annual drop the month before. The consensus estimate was for a 2% year-on-year decline.

"This is the first bit of good news in Germany’s economy for a while," said economist Claus Vistesen from Pantheon Macroeconomics.

"The monthly retail sales numbers are volatile, but at a first glance, the October data suggest that the drag on real consumers’ spending from rising inflation is now fading," Vistesen said.

Pantheon is forecasting "another jump" in online shopping trade in November due to Black Friday sales, "but this could well be at the expense of a drop in December.