According to preliminary results released by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on Monday, the turnover of retail companies in Germany declined by 0.3 percent in April 2026 compared to March 2026, when adjusted for calendar and seasonal variations, while nominally it showed an increase of 0.3 percent.
Comparing April 2026 to the same month last year, real turnover fell by 0.3 percent, but nominal turnover rose by 1.4 percent. Furthermore, revised figures for March 2026 showed that retail turnover had declined by 0.3 percent in real terms compared to February 2026 (the initial figure was -2.0 percent), with a nominal gain of 0.3 percent (the initial figure was -1.5 percent).
A notable development in April 2026 was the performance of fuel station sales, which were heavily influenced by the conflict in the Middle East. After adjusting for calendar and seasonal variations, sales at gas stations dropped by 4.0 percent in real terms and 1.0 percent nominally compared to the previous month. Year-over-year, real sales at these stations declined by 10.4 percent compared to April 2025, although nominal sales increased by 7.6 percent. It is important to note that the sales figures for fuel stations include purchases made in the associated station shops.
In contrast, the turnover in the food retail sector grew by 3.2 percent in real terms and 3.3 percent nominally in April 2026 compared to March 2026 (adjusted for seasonal and calendar effects). Compared to April 2025, real turnover in food retail saw a slight decrease of 0.1 percent, while nominal turnover increased by 1.4 percent.
The Non-food retail sector experienced a decline in adjusted turnover in April: real sales fell by 2.2 percent and nominal sales fell by 2.0 percent compared to the previous month. However, when comparing to the same period last year, actual turnover slightly shrank by 0.2 percent, while nominal sales rose by 1.2 percent.
In the e-commerce and mail-order sector, sales declined by 4.7 percent in real terms and 4.5 percent nominally in April compared to March. Conversely, compared to April 2025, turnover in online and mail-order sales actually grew by 0.4 percent in real terms and 1.1 percent nominally.
