Retail sales in Germany dipped in April 2025, registering a 1.1% decline in real terms and a 1.2% fall in nominal terms compared with March 2025, after calendar and seasonal adjustments. These preliminary figures from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) suggest a modest reversal following a revised increase of 0.9% in both real and nominal terms in March.
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Despite the month-on-month drop, retail turnover remains higher than a year ago. Compared to April 2024, retail sales increased by 2.3% in real terms and 3.4% in nominal terms. This points to a longer-term recovery trend, albeit with short-term volatility.
In food retail, calendar- and seasonally adjusted sales remained relatively stable in April, showing a marginal 0.1% decrease in real terms, while nominal sales edged up by 0.1% over March. Compared to the same month last year, however, food sales recorded a 2.3% rise in real terms and 4.9% in nominal terms.
Non-food retail showed more pronounced monthly declines, with sales down by 1.3% in real terms and 1.4% in nominal terms from March. Nonetheless, the year-on-year comparison indicates growth of 2.6% in real terms and 2.9% in nominal terms.
The e-commerce and mail order sector also posted a slight dip from the previous month — down 0.2% in real terms and 0.4% in nominal terms — but continues to show strong annual growth. Compared to April 2024, online and mail order sales surged by 14.1% in real terms and 13.8% nominally. Destatis noted that this was partly driven by a structural increase following the August 2024 restructuring of a major player in the internet and mail order industry.
Original (non-adjusted) figures further confirm this trend. In April 2025, overall retail sales (excluding motor vehicle trade) rose by 4.0% in real terms and 5.2% in nominal terms compared to April 2024. Food, beverages, and tobacco retail performed especially well, with increases of 6.4% (real) and 9.1% (nominal), driven by supermarkets and self-service department stores, which posted real growth of 6.9% and nominal growth of 9.7%.
The non-food sector grew by 2.9% (real) and 3.2% (nominal). While textiles, clothing, shoes and leather goods saw a slight dip (-0.6% real), other segments such as pharmacies and department stores experienced moderate gains.
From January to April 2025, total retail sales were up 2.4% in real terms and 3.4% nominally compared to the same period last year.
Destatis emphasises that "in all reports on economic indicators, the different comparison periods must be taken into account," adding that "the comparison of calendar- and seasonally-adjusted values with the previous month/quarter is central to short-term economic analysis," while year-on-year comparisons help identify longer-term trends.
For further insights and detailed data, Destatis recommends visiting the GENESIS-Online database and the "Dashboard Germany" portal.
More information:
Destatis
www.destatis.de