02.12.202006:31:00UTC+00German Retail Sales Growth Tops Expectations

German retail sales grew more than expected in October, data released by Destatis revealed on Wednesday.

Retail sales increased 2.6 percent on a monthly basis, reversing a 1.9 percent drop in September. Sales were expected to climb only 1.2 percent.

Sale of food, beverages and tobacco advanced 7.3 percent and non-food product sales gained 9 percent in October.

Year-on-year, retail sales surged around 8.2 percent in October, bigger than the economists' forecast of 5.9 percent.

Compared to February 2020, the month before the outbreak of the corona pandemic in Germany, sales in October were in real terms 5.9 percent higher.

In nominal terms, retail sales grew 2.6 percent on month taking the annual growth to 9.4 percent in October.