German Retail Sales Fall Unexpectedly

(RTTNews) - Germany's retail sales declined in February due to the fall in food sales, data from Destatis showed on Tuesday.

Retail sales decreased 0.6 percent on a monthly basis in February but slower than the 1.1 percent fall seen in January. Sales were expected to grow 0.3 percent.

Data showed that retail sales in the food sector slid 1.4 percent, while non-food sales grew 0.7 percent in February. At the same time, online and mail-order sales grew 0.6 percent.

On a yearly basis, retail sales growth slowed to 0.7 percent from 1.0 percent in January. Economists had forecast sales to grow at a steady pace of 1.0 percent. In nominal terms, retail sales dropped 0.7 percent from January but increased 1.6 percent from the previous year.