German retail sales in January 2026 declined real‑value, after calendar‑ and seasonally‑adjustment, by 0.9 % compared with December, while nominal sales stayed flat at the same level as the previous month, the Statistical Office (Destatis) announced on Monday with preliminary data.
Against the same month yesterday, real sales rose 1.2 % and nominal sales increased 2.5 %. For December 2025, after a revision of the preliminary figures, the retail turnover, when measured against November 2025, grew by 1.2 % real (previous estimate +0.1 %) and 1.1 % nominal (previous estimate −0.1 %).
In the grocery sector, real retail sales were unchanged from December, but nominal sales rose 0.9 %. Compared with January 2025, grocery sales grew 2.2 % real and 4.5 % nominal.
In non‑food retail, real sales fell 1.7 % and nominal sales dropped 1.0 % from the previous month. Yet, versus January 2025, real sales increased 0.4 % and nominal sales grew 0.8 %.
Online and mail‑order retail reported a real sales increase of 2.5 % and a nominal rise of 3.5 % from December. Over the same month last year, the online sector grew real 2.1 % and nominal 2.0 %.
