German retail sales rose sharply in May

According to provisional data from Destatis, turnover in retail trade in May 2020 was in real terms 3.8% and in nominal terms 4.6% higher than in May 2019. The number of days open for sale was 24 in May 2020 and 25 in May 2019.

When adjusted for calendar and seasonal variations, the May 2020 turnover was in real terms 13.9% and in nominal terms 13.4% higher than in April 2020. The retail sector was thus able to compensate for the Corona-related decline in sales in the previous months. At the same time, this was the strongest increase in sales compared to the previous month since the start of the time series in 1994. the reasons for this are the business closures until mid-April 2020 and the subsequent easing. In April, sales were down 6.5% in real terms and 6.2% in nominal terms compared to the previous month.

Retail sales of food, beverages and tobacco products increased by 4.9% in real terms and 8.4% in nominal terms in May 2020 compared with May 2019, with sales at supermarkets and hypermarkets up 6.4% in real terms and 9.9% in nominal terms on the same month of the previous year. In contrast, the retail trade of food products recorded a reduction of 6.6% in real terms and 3.0% in nominal terms.

In the non-food retail sector, sales increased by 3.5% in real terms and 3.3% in nominal terms in May 2020 compared to the same month of the previous year. The Internet and mail order business achieved the largest increase in sales year - on-year with 28.7% in real terms and 28.8% in nominal terms. Rates of change of this magnitude are unusual even in this very dynamic industry and are thus largely due to a special impact of the corona pandemic. Trade in furnishings, household appliances and building materials also increased significantly, with a real increase of 8.6 %. On the other hand, trade in textiles, clothing, shoes and leather goods and retail trade in goods of various kinds (e.g. department stores and department stores) are not yet back on the previous year's level, with real -22.6% and -8.3% respectively compared to the same month of the previous year.