German retail sales register unexpected fall in February

German retail sales fell unexpectedly in February by 1.3% in real terms compared to the previous month, according to official data released on Friday.

On an annual basis retail sales are down 7.1% and 1.6% below pre-Covid pandemic February 2020.

Food sales inched ahead by 0.2% but were still down 7.6% on the year, due to a 22% rise in grocery prices in the last 12 months. Non-food sales fell by 0.3% and were down 6.8% year on year.

In separate data, German import prices rose 2.8% year on year, the statistics office said, compared with expectations of a 4.2% increase.

December and January's import prices had risen by 12.6% and 6.6% respectively and February's increase was the smallest since the same month in 2021.

The year-on-year increase in February was attributed to high prices for consumer and capital goods, while import prices for energy decreased by 8.1%, the statistics office said.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com