German retail sales came in weaker than expected in February, as rising prices curbed spending amid high inflation.
Retail sales declined 1.3% on month in February in real terms, after a revised 0.1% increase in January, German statistics office Destatis said Friday.
Economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires expected a stagnation in sales.
On an annual basis, sales declined 7.1% in real terms, though it increased 2.6% in nominal terms, with the difference reflecting the significant price increases in retail trade across the past 12 months, Destatis said.
Food-retail sales rose 0.2% on month in February, continuing a recovery after a sales slumped at the end of 2022. Food sales, one of the areas most affected by high inflation, still fell by 7.6% in real terms year on year. Real, nonfood-retail sales fell 0.3% in February on month, Destatis said.
Write to Ed Frankl at edward.frankl@wsj.com and Andreas Plecko at andreas.plecko@wsj.com