Germany's retail sales rise 5.1 pct in 2020 despite COVID-19 crisis: Destatis
Xinhua
1612189112000

BERLIN, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- Nominal sales in Germany's retail sector last year increased by 5.1 percent year-on-year despite the COVID-19 crisis, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) announced on Monday.

A pedestrian walks in front of a shopping mall in Frankfurt, Germany, on Dec. 16, 2020. (Photo: Xinhua)

Sales in December only increased by 2.6 percent year-on-year, according to Destatis. Due to high COVID-19 infection rates in Germany, the country intensified its COVID-19 lockdown in mid-December, including the closure of most retail shops in Germany.

"The different sectors of the retail industry performed very differently in December, depending on whether and to what extent they were affected by the restrictions," Destatis said.

The internet and mail-order business "benefited strongly" in December from the store closures, with sales growth of 31.9 percent year-on-year, Destatis noted.

In 2020, gross revenues of goods in e-commerce in Germany went up 14.6 percent year-on-year and reached 83.3 billion euros (101 billion U.S. dollars), the German E-Commerce and Distance Selling Trade Association (bevh) said last week.

Despite stagnation in the first quarter, the increase was 3.3 percentage points above the average growth rate of last three years, according to bevh. In Germany, around one in eight euros of household expenditure on goods were spent online.

According to Destatis, sales of food, beverages and tobacco in December were up 8.7 percent year-on-year, while sales of textiles, clothing, shoes and leather goods in Germany dropped by 41.3 percent, according to Destatis.

The German Retail Federation (HDE) said on Monday that the second COVID-19 lockdown was having an impact on consumer sentiment and the HDE consumer barometer is expected to "deteriorate further in the coming months.

A "boost to consumption" is not expected until the COVID-19 measures were eased in Germany, the HDE said.