The German fashion trade had to accept declining revenues last year.
Price-adjusted sales of textiles, clothing, shoes and leather goods fell by 5 percent in 2021, data published by the Federal Statistical Office on Tuesday showed. In December, the real decline in sales in fashion retail was even adjusted at 32 percent.
Sales fall after the introduction of 2G
The Federal Office suspects that the decline in December is due to the introduction of the 2G rule in many retail shops, according to which only those who have recovered or have been vaccinated were allowed access to non-essential shops. The renewed restrictions in the fight against the corona virus hit many shopkeepers in the city centers hard. “Parts of stationary retail, such as retail with textiles, clothing, shoes and leather goods, had to accept a drop in sales in the second year of the Corona crisis,” the Federal Office summed up.
The nationwide introduction of the 2G rule, according to which many shops are only allowed to let in those who have been vaccinated and those who have recovered, as well as delivery bottlenecks slowed down retail at the end of the year. From November to December, sales fell by 5.5 percent in real terms and by 4.9 percent in nominal terms.
Compared to December 2020, when the corona measures were tightened in the middle of the month, sales remained unchanged in real terms, with nominal sales rising by 3.3 percent – “due to the sharp price increases”, as the statisticians explained.
Record sales for German retail despite corona dampeners
Overall, Germany’s retail companies achieved record sales in the second year of the pandemic, despite a drop in sales in December. Mainly thanks to the booming online trade, sales increased by 0.7 percent in 2021, adjusted for price increases (in real terms), as reported by the Federal Statistical Office.
In nominal terms, the industry saw an increase in sales of 2.9 percent for the year as a whole compared to 2020, the year with the highest sales to date. The Wiesbaden statisticians thus corrected their first estimate from the beginning of January slightly downwards.
Small damper in online trading
There was a setback for online and mail order trading in December 2021: both compared to the previous month and compared to the same month last year, the area recorded a real drop in sales of 5.7 percent. According to the information, sales in the online and mail order business were still up 23.7 percent, well above the level of February 2020, the month before the outbreak of the corona pandemic in Germany. (FashionUnited/dpa)