German retailers end negative series with revenue boost in April

BERLIN, May 30 (Xinhua) -- The German retail sector was able to reverse a long-standing downward trend by recording the strongest monthly increase in revenue in over a year, figures by the Federal Statistical Office showed on Wednesday.

According to the Wiesbaden-based government statisticians, retail revenue grew by 2.6 percent in April compared to March after four consecutive months of decline. On a price-adjusted basis, revenue was up by 2.3 percent, marking the fastest rate of increase since October 2016.

The figures revealed a considerably healthier picture in the retail sector than anticipated by most economists and industry representatives.

"The situation in retail is good," Stefan Hertel, spokesperson for the Association of German Retailers (HDE) commented on the findings.

Speaking to press on Wednesday, HDE attributed the development to a favourable interplay of the current strength of the German labor market, higher wages, low interest rates and rising consumer sentiment.

Retail revenue growth during the first four months of 2018 was measured at 3.1 percent, ahead of the 2 percent annual goal established by HDE.

Hertel highlighted that sales of textiles, clothing, shoes and leatherware had grown particularly fast by 10.6 in April compared to the same period last year. The HDE spokesperson said that a spat of unusually sunny weather in the past month was at least partially responsible for this growth.

Additionally, online and mail order revenue rose by annual rate of 10.5 percent with Hertel predicting that this trend would last throughout the year. By contrast, retail revenue recorded in high street department stores fell by 4.2 percent. Enditem