German retail sales tank in November

German retail sales dropped sharply in November as non-food sales tanked, according to the federal statistics office, Destatis.

Retail sales were down 2.5% during the month, wiping out the 1.1% gain registered in October, and surprising analysts who had pencilled in a decline of just 0.1%.

Compared with November 2022, the annual rate of decline worsened to 2.4% after a 0.1% fall the month before and well below the 0.5% decrease expected by the market.