Upward trend in retail in February: The sales of the industry exceeded both January 2025 and February 2024, as the Federal Statistical Office announced on the basis of preliminary figures. In addition, the January balance sheet is significantly better than initially calculated.
“These are very good news for growth in the first quarter,” commented Thomas Gitzel, chief economist of VP Bank. There are reasonable reason to hope that private consumption will contribute positively to the growth of gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter.
In February, the revenues in retail were based on the Wiesbaden statisticians: both in the inside (real) and nominal of 0.8 percent higher than in January of the current year. At the same month, an increase of 4.9 percent (real) and 5.9 percent (nominal) resulted in the previous year.
Starting into the year significantly better than calculated
The Federal Office revised the figures for January: According to the sales, sales of December, which are traditionally low in sales, exceeded 0.7 (preliminary value: 0.2) percent and nominal by 0.6 (0.1) percent. The plus for the previous year month was also higher.
According to earlier information, the trade association Germany (HDE) expects an increase in retail sales by two percent to 677 billion euros (on a nominal basis, including price increases).