German fashion falls again in March. In the third month of the year, German retail sales have continued the downward trend of previous months. The sector has recorded a year-on-year drop of 0.3%, a more moderate drop compared to the 0.7% decline that the sector had in January and 0.5% in February, according to data published today by the Federal Office of German Statistics, Destatis.
The sector has been recording irregular values for more than a year. In 2023 as a whole, sales in the sector (which includes textile, clothing, footwear and leather goods retailers) grew by 2.6%. However, the sector’s turnover was still 4.6% below 2019, before the pandemic. In 2024, the values recorded in the first three months of the year predict a difficult situation for German fashion retail.
The fashion trend contrasts with the entire German retail trade. Sales grew by 1.8% in March compared to the 1.9% decline that German commerce had in February and the 0.4% drop that commerce recorded in January. In the whole of 2023, retail trade recorded a decrease of 3.3%.
The negative trend in German retail sales contrasts with retail trade as a whole, which grew by 1.8% in March
By sector, non-food retail sales continued the negative trend of previous months, with a fall of 2.1% in March. The sector that has recorded the greatest drop in the third month of the year has once again been furniture and appliances, with a decrease of 5.7%. The pharmaceutical sector, for its part, has been the sector that has grown the most, with an increase in sales of 2.5%.
On the other hand, sales in the food retail sector also grew in March, with an increase of 1.9%. In 2023 as a whole, the food retail sector reached its lowest level in recent yearswith a drop in turnover of 3.9% (in real terms) compared to 2022, when a drop of 4.6% was also recorded, so the March results show its recovery.
Sales on the Internet and by mail have closed the third month of the year 4.1% below the same month of the previous year. According to Destatis, the country’s retail trade may still see very different results compared to the previous month and year due to the lingering consequences of the coronavirus crisis and the war in Ukraine.
