German retailers did better business last year despite the economic downturn. Adjusted for prices, sales rose by 2.7 percent compared to the previous year, according to preliminary findings from the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden.
However, the increase is due, among other things, to the restructuring of a large internet and mail order company, which took into account sales that had not previously been recorded in Germany. The first half of the year was particularly affected. The company is said to be Amazon.
According to the statisticians, sales rose particularly sharply in mail order and online trading, with a price-adjusted increase of a good ten percent. In 2025, revenue in food retail grew by 1.1 percent in real terms compared to the previous year and by 3.7 percent in non-food retail.
With the results adjusted for prices, retail is only slightly below the record year of 2021, when the industry achieved its highest sales since the start of the time series in 1994, as the statisticians explained.
Growth in Christmas business
Retailers were also able to make gains in the Christmas business. According to preliminary findings, in December 2025 they had a price-adjusted turnover of 3.2 percent more than in the same month of the previous year. However, compared to December 2021, when the highest sales were achieved in a December since 1994, real sales were four percent lower.
Consumer sentiment in Germany is subdued because many consumers are feeling the effects of higher prices and are worried about their jobs. However, for more than two years, wages have risen faster than inflation, which was recently at a moderate level.
At the beginning of the year, people in Germany’s consumer mood brightened, as the research institutes GfK and NIM reported. Accordingly, consumers expect higher incomes due to the recent minimum wage increase and are more willing to spend more money again.
