Berlin: Retail sales in Germany dropped 0.2% from a month ago in August against market expectations, according to official data released on Tuesday. The decline came after a 0.5% monthly fall in July, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) data said.

According to Anadolu Agency, the market anticipated that the monthly real (price-adjusted) turnover of retail enterprises would rise 0.6% on a monthly basis in August. However, the actual figures showed a different trend with food sales rising 0.6% month-on-month, while non-food retail sales dropped by 1%.

On a yearly basis, retail sales increased by 1.8% in August. Despite this annual increase, food sales declined by 0.6% year-on-year, whereas non-food sales climbed by 3.2% in the same period.

In the e-commerce and mail order sectors, retail sales recorded a monthly decline of 2%, while posting a yearly rise of 7.4% in August.