Germany’s retails sales increased at a faster-than-expected pace at the start of the year, preliminary figures from Destatis showed Monday.
Retail sales rose a seasonally and calendar-adjusted 0.7 percent month-over-month in January, exceeding economists’ expectations for a 0.3 percent climb. It was also slightly faster than the 0.6 percent gain December.
This also marked the third consecutive monthly rise.
On an annual basis, retail sales fell a price-adjusted 0.8 percent in January, reversing a 2.5 percent spike in the preceding month. It was the first decrease in eight months.
Sales of food, beverages and tobacco products dipped 1.4 percent annually in January and that for non-food products slid by 0.3 percent.
In nominal terms, retail sales dropped 0.4 percent yearly in January, while it grew 0.6 percent from the previous month.
In a separate report, the statistical office revealed that import prices declined at a faster pace of 3.8 percent in January from a year ago, following a 3.1 percent fall in December. It was expected to drop by 3.4 percent.
The annual decline in January was largely caused by a 25.2 percent slump in energy prices.
Month-on-month, import prices slipped 1.5 percent in January, which was worse than the 1.2 percent fall a month earlier. Economists had expected 1.0 percent decrease for the month.
Export prices dropped 0.5 percent annually and by 0.2 percent monthly in January.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com