Despite the economic recession, the German retail sector has shown resilience and performed well over the past year.
Preliminary data issued by the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden on Monday revealed that sales volumes rose by 2.7% compared to 2024, after taking into account price adjustments.
This rise was due in part to an extensive restructuring exercise by an e-commerce and parcel shipping company. This has led to sales recorded that were not previously counted in German statistics, especially in the first half of the year. The company in question is believed to be Amazon.
The data indicated that online trade and parcel trade achieved the largest jump, as their sales increased by more than 10% after adjusting to take into account price changes.
In addition, food trade saw a growth of 1.1% compared to 2024, while trade in non-food goods recorded a 3.7% increase.
Thanks to these positive results, retail sector sales after accounting for price changes approached the record level recorded in 2021, which represents the highest number of sales since statistics began being collected in 1994.
Regarding the Christmas season, retailers also performed well, with sales in December 2025 increasing by 3.2% compared to the same month of the previous year, after adjusting for price changes. However, sales are still 4% below the level achieved in December 2021, which saw the highest sales in this month since 1994.
Despite these good results, consumer sentiment in Germany is still affected by rising prices and concerns about jobs. However, wages have been rising faster than inflation for more than two years, while inflation has recently remained at a moderate level.
With the beginning of this year, consumer sentiment has witnessed a noticeable improvement, according to data from the GfK Institute and NIM Market Research, as consumers expect an increase in their incomes due to raising the minimum wage, and they have become more willing to spend money. (Arabic)
