Preliminary figures from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) reveal that German retail turnover saw growth in August 2026. Compared to July 2026, the real (price-adjusted) turnover increased by 1.3 percent, while the nominal (non-price-adjusted) turnover rose by 1.7 percent.
Year-on-year, however, the real turnover declined by 0.4 percent compared to August 2025, although the nominal turnover increased by 2.6 percent. Furthermore, in July 2026, retail turnover had already shrunk by 3.2 percent compared to May 2026 (revised from an initial figure of -3.4 percent), with nominal turnover falling by 1.4 percent (initial estimate: -1.7 percent).
Looking at specific segments, the turnover at gas stations remained flat in real terms month-over-month in August 2026 (0.0 percent), while nominal turnover climbed by 2.6 percent. Comparing to August 2025, gas station turnover experienced a significant year-on-year drop in real terms of 8.7 percent, contrasted by a nominal increase of 10.7 percent. It should be noted that this figure includes sales made in station shops.
In the food retail sector, month-on-month, real turnover grew by 0.9 percent and nominal turnover grew by 1.0 percent. Annually, the food sector recorded a real increase of 0.5 percent and a nominal increase of 0.9 percent compared to August 2025.
The non-food retail segment saw a real increase of 1.6 percent and a nominal increase of 2.0 percent compared to July 2026. Conversely, when compared to August 2025, the sector faced a real decrease of 0.8 percent, despite a nominal gain of 3.5 percent.
E-commerce and mail order saw strong growth month-over-month, increasing by 3.7 percent in real terms and 4.4 percent nominally. Regarding the year-on-year comparison (against August 2025), the online and mail-order sector expanded its real turnover by 3.5 percent and its nominal turnover by 4.8 percent.
