Press release No. 381 of 30 September 2020

Retail turnover, August 2020
+3.1% on the previous month (in real terms, calendar and seasonally adjusted, provisional)
+3.4% on the previous month (in nominal terms, calendar and seasonally adjusted, provisional)
+3.7% on the same month a year earlier (in real terms, provisional)
+5.2% on the same month a year earlier (in nominal terms, provisional)

WIESBADEN – According to provisional data, turnover in retail trade in August 2020 was in real terms 3.1% and in nominal terms 3.4% (both adjusted for calendar and seasonal influences) higher than in July 2020.

In August 2020, the turnover in retail rose by 3.7% (real) and 5.2% (nominal) compared to the same month of the previous year, despite the August 2019 had one day of sale more. In comparison to February 2020, the month before the outbreak of Covid-19 in Germany, the turnover in August 2020 was 5.8% higher.

Retail sales of food, beverages and tobacco were in real terms 2.6% and 5.4% in nominal terms higher in August 2020 than in August 2019. Turnover in retail sale in supermarkets, self-service department shops and hypermarkets were in real terms 2.9% and in nominal terms 5.6% higher than in the same month last year. In addition, the retail sale of food, beverages and tobacco in specialised stores generated in real terms 0.3% and in nominal terms 3.7% more turnover.

In the non-food retail sector, sales in August 2020 rose in real terms by 4.5% and in nominal terms by 5.4% compared with the same month previous year. The largest increase in turnover compared with the previous year's month in real terms by 23.0% and 24.4% in nominal terms was achieved by the internet and mail order business. Trade in furniture, household appliances and building materials also increased, with a real plus of 8.1%. Trade in textiles, clothing, shoes and leather goods as well as the retail trade in various types of goods (e.g. department stores) did not yet return to the previous year's level, with real growth of -10.1% and -2.5% respectively over the previous year.

European data on retail trade
Results on retail trade in other EU countries are contained in the Eurostat’s database. At the moment the database includes data for almost all countries for July 2020.

Methodical notes
In all reports on economic indicators, the different comparison periods must be taken into account. The focus of economic monitoring is usually a comparison with the previous month/previous quarter. This provides an indication of the short-term trend in economic developments. A comparison of the previous month/previous quarter can only be meaningfully interpreted using calendar and seasonally adjusted data. The comparison with the previous year serves to provide a longer-term comparison of levels and is independent of seasonal fluctuations. In the current corona crisis, the sharp downturn, especially in March/April 2020, and the gradual recovery since then may lead to very different results in the comparison of the previous month/previous quarter and the previous year. Both approaches are important: What is the economic trend compared to the previous month/previous quarter and how far has the catching-up process progressed compared to the previous year? In order to additionally enable a direct comparison with the pre-crisis level, all press releases on economic indicators that are available on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis now include a comparison with February 2020 or the 4th quarter of 2019.

Further informations
The revision tables provide information about the impact of the updates on the results.

German EU Council Presidency
As of 1 July, the Federal Statistical Office will organise the meetings of the Council Working Party on Statistics to be held during Germany’s EU Council Presidency under the chairmanship of its President Dr. Georg Thiel. Information on our activities during the Presidency of the Council of the EU is provided at destatis.de/eu2020.