In December, Lockdown brought about the biggest slump in monthly sales since 1994
Germany's retailers closed the 2020 corona year with a record plus despite a historic drop in sales in December. For the year as a whole, revenues were up by 3.9 percent in real terms and 5.1 percent in nominal terms, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office. Online retail in particular was booming, and grocery stores, furniture and home improvement stores were also doing good business. The textile trade, on the other hand, plunged deep into the crisis.
At the end of the year, there was the biggest drop in sales for the entire retail sector in Germany since 1994 because of the renewed lockdown: In December, the sector posted a price-adjusted (real) total of 9.6 percent and nominally 9.3 percent less than in November 2020. To combat the pandemic, public life was restricted again, so the Christmas business, which is important for the industry, was partially canceled.
Compared to December 2019, however, the industry was also up in total in December 2020: sales were up 1.5 percent in real terms and 2.6 percent in nominal terms compared to the same month last year.
