The retail trade in Germany also recorded a decline in sales in February. According to preliminary results from the Federal Statistical Office, companies are real (price-adjusted) 1.3 percent and nominal 0.5 percent less than in January. According to earlier information, sales had already fallen compared to the previous month at the beginning of the current year.
Compared to February 2022, real sales fell by 7.1 percent, as the Wiesbaden authority announced on Friday. Including the sometimes sharp rise in prices, the industry recorded a nominal increase of 2.6 percent. Compared to February 2020, the month before the outbreak of the corona pandemic in Germany, real sales fell by 1.6 percent.
Persistently high inflation reduces the purchasing power of consumers in Germany. People can afford less for one euro. That dampens private consumption. “Loss of purchasing power caused by inflation are causing problems for many households,” explained the Institute for Macroeconomics and Business Cycle Research (IMK) of the trade union-affiliated Hans Böckler Foundation recently. (dpa)
