Germany's retail sales grew for the first time in three months in February but the pace of expansion was slower than economists' expected, data from Destatis revealed Thursday.
Retail sales rose 1.2 percent month-on-month in February, reversing a 6.5 percent fall in January. Economists had forecast sales to grow at a faster pace of 2 percent. This was the first increase in three months.
On a yearly basis, retail sales decreased 9 percent after easing 9.3 percent in the previous month. Economists had forecast a 6.3 percent drop.
Food, beverages and tobacco sales dropped 1.6 percent annually and non-food product sales slid 13.8 percent.
In nominal terms, retail sales rose 1.3 percent on month but fell 7.7 percent from the same period last year.
In comparison to February 2020, the month before the outbreak of Covid-19 in Germany, the turnover was 5.4 percent in real terms, lower.
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