The retail trade in Bavaria made less sales in the first half of the year. Price-adjusted, the revenue fell by 1.0 percent, as the Bavarian State Office for Statistics announced on Wednesday. Without price adjustment, nominal growth is 5.1 percent. The number of employees grew by 0.8 percent compared to the same period of the previous year.
In stationary retail, sales increased significantly by 5.4 percent in the first half of the year. The number of employees in “retail trade in salesrooms” grew by 0.3 percent. Online trading, however, developed in the opposite direction: the “out-of-store retail trade”, to which it belongs, lost 12 percent. Nevertheless, the number of employees increased by 6.2 percent. The State Office for Statistics attributes the developments to the relaxed corona measures.
The managing director of the Bavarian trade association, Bernd Ohlmann, sees “dark clouds” for the second half of the year. He continues to forecast a price-adjusted decline in sales. At the beginning of the year, the retail trade in Bavaria got off to a thoroughly confident start, he emphasized. But since the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, consumer sentiment has clouded over. High energy costs, price increases and inflation led to reluctance to buy. According to Ohlmann, in addition to delivery difficulties, the shortage of skilled workers is also noticeable, which also costs sales. (dpa)