Sales in German retail sector in February rise almost 5 pct compared to that of 2018

BERLIN, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The German retail sector continued to do well in February due to consumer spending, according to preliminary figures from the German Federal Statistical Office(Destatis) released on Friday.

Retail companies in Germany generated 4.7 percent more sales in real terms, excluding inflation effects, in February 2019 than in February 2018. Adjusted for inflation, growth was 5.5 percent.

According to Destatis, the largest increase in turnover was generated by German online trading and mail orders with a real rise of 9.2 percent.

In February, retail sales of food, beverages and tobacco products in Germany rose by 2.3 percent in price-adjusted terms compared with February 2018.

The German retail association (HDE) recently predicted that German retail sales would increase two percent to 535.5 billion euros (600.6 billion dollars) in 2019.

The HDE expected online trade to increase by around nine percent to 58.5 billion euros in 2019 as two-thirds of the German population over the age of 14 now shop online on a more or less regular basis. (1 euro = 1.12 U.S. dollars)