Data published by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) showed that retail sales fell by 1.6% in December, slowing compared to November (-2.5%). However, economists had expected an increase of 0.7%. In annual terms, retail sales fell by 1.7% after a 2.4% decline in November. Consensus estimates suggested a 2.0% drop. Meanwhile, from January to December, real retail sales (including prices) fell by 3.3% compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.
The Destatis said that food sales declined by 2.8% m/m in December. Compared to December 2022, food sales decreased by 0.7%. This decrease in real sales combined with a significant increase in nominal sales (+3.4%) means that consumers bought fewer products than in the same months of the previous year, but were forced to spend significantly more money on them. Meanwhile, sales of non-food products fell by 1.6% on a monthly basis and by 2.5% per year.
Separate data showed that import prices fell by 8.5% per annum in December after falling by 9% per annum in November. The large decreases are still primarily due to a base effect originating from the high price increases in 2022. On a monthly basis, import prices fell 1.1% in December. On an annual average basis, import prices were 8.3% lower in 2023 than in 2022. That was the largest year-on-year drop in prices since 2009 (-8.6% on 2008).