REUTERS, Berlin

German retailers ended the first half of 2022 with the sharpest year-on-year sales drop in nearly three decades, as inflation, the Ukraine war and the coronavirus pandemic take their toll, data showed on Monday.

Retail sales in June decreased 8.8 per cent in real terms compared with the same month last year, the biggest drop since the time series began in 1994, said the Federal Statistical Office. Retail sales also unexpectedly fell compared with the month before: June retail sales fell 1.6 per cent in real terms, versus analysts’ predictions of a 0.2 per cent increase.

Food retail sales in particular saw a decrease of 1.6 per cent in real terms compared with the previous month, which is due to higher prices for groceries.