German retail sales fall sharply

Retail sales in Germany fell sharply last month, official data showed on Monday, missing analyst forecasts.

According to the country’s federal statistics office, sales were down 2.5% month-on-month in September in price-adjusted terms. In nominal terms they were off 2.3%.

Analysts had been expecting a monthly rise of 1.1%.

On a yearly basis, sales were down 0.9% in real terms, from 0.4% in August, also below consensus. Sales where ahead year-on-year 1.4% in nominal terms, however.

Retail turnover was also ahead, in real terms, by 3.7% when compared to the pre-crisis months of February 2020.

Claus Vistesen, chief Eurozone economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said: “This isn’t pretty, but we doubt that it will lead to any meaningful revisions to third quarter GDP data.

“Last week the statistical office noted that consumer spending propelled the economy in the third quarter, and while it offered no hints on the breakdown across the sectors, we are confident that higher services spending was the key driver.

“Indeed, it is not a huge surprise that retail sales are falling as services spending rebounds, given the overshoot in goods spending during the pandemic.”

Last week, Destatis said GDP grew by 1.8% in the third quarter when compared to the second, with manufacturing output restrained by supply bottlenecks. The figure, Destatis’ first estimate, was below expectations.