German retail sales rose sharply in March

According to provisional results of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), the real (price-adjusted) turnover of all retail enterprises in Germany was 7.7% higher and the nominal (not price-adjusted) turnover was 7.4% higher, on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis, in March 2021 than in February 2021. This was the strongest month-on-month increase in turnover, both in real and in nominal terms, since restrictions had been imposed in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic in Germany. Economists had expected a 3.0% increase the real turnover. In March 2021, the calendar and seasonally adjusted real turnover increased by 4.4% compared with the pre-crisis month of February 2020.

Without calendar and seasonal adjustment, retail turnover in March 2021 increased by 11.0% in real terms and by 12.3% in nominal terms compared with March 2020. This was the strongest year-on-year increase in turnover, both in real and in nominal terms, recorded since the beginning of the time series in 1994. With a total of 27 trading days, however, March 2021 had one more trading day compared to March 2020.