German retail sales fell 1.1% in June from May, a much sharper drop than the 0.1% decline economists had forecast. Petrol station sales kept climbing on a temporary fuel discount, but weaker food and non-food purchases dragged the headline number down. Retail sales for the first half of 2026 still ran ahead of last year.
German retail sales dropped 1.1% in June from the prior month, far below the 0.1% decline economists had expected. The setback erased much of May's bounce, which statisticians revised up to a 1.2% monthly gain from an initial 1.1%.
A fuel discount running from May 1 to June 30 kept propping up one corner of the market. Petrol station sales climbed 3.5% in May. Sales there rose another 2.1% in real terms in June. Without that lift, June's overall figure could have looked worse.
Broader categories drove the decline instead. Food product sales fell 1.4% in real terms. Non-food retail trade dropped 1.0% on the month.
Still, the June slump has not erased the year's broader gain. German retail sales increased 0.7% in real terms in the first half of 2026 compared with the same period last year.
Source: Investinglive
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