BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - Germany's retail sales grew more than expected in November driven by non-food retailing, data from Destatis revealed Tuesday.
In November, retail turnover climbed by a real 5.6 percent from the previous year, which was faster than the expected growth of 3.9 percent but slower than the 8.6 percent increase logged in October.
Retail sales of food, beverages and tobacco gained only 0.8 percent annually, while non-food retail surged 8.5 percent.
On a monthly basis, retail sales grew unexpectedly by 1.9 percent. Economists had forecast a month-on-month fall of 2 percent after rising 2.6 percent in October.
In comparison to February, the month before the outbreak of Covid-19, the turnover in November was 8.4 percent higher in real terms.
Destatis said retail turnover for the whole year of 2020 was expected to be between 3.9 percent and 4.3 percent in real terms higher than in 2019.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2021 AFX News
