German retail sales rise 0.8% in May

Retail sales in Germany climbed by 0.8% month-to-month in April, partially reversing a 2.4% decline in March, and slightly below consensus for a 1% increase, the Federal Statistics Office said on Thursday.

Compared with April 2022, sales fell 4.3%.

“Consumer spending in Germany, ex-services, rebounded a bit at the start of Q2, consistent with cooling inflation easing the pressure on households’ real consumption,” said Pantheon Macroeconomics.

“Nominal sales rose by 0.8% too, indicating that the deflator was zero on the month. It’s a long time since we’ve been able to tell such a story. Spending on food rose by 0.5% on the month, as inflation softened, but fell sharply year-over-year, extending the string of annual declines to 22 months.”

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com