Surprisingly, German retailers increased their sales slightly in September.
Their revenues climbed by 1.8 percent compared to the previous month, as the Federal Statistical Office announced on Monday.
Adjusted for inflation (real) there was an increase of 0.9 percent.
Economists surveyed by the Reuters news agency had expected a drop of 0.3 percent.
High inflation is currently dampening consumers' willingness to buy.
This price surge is reflected in the year-on-year comparison.
Although retailers had 9.9 percent more in their tills than in September 2021, if you factor out the price increases, there was a real minus of 0.9 percent compared to the same month last year.
The measures taken by the traffic light coalition in the fight against high energy prices were once again reflected in the economic data.
With the expiry of the tank discount, the real revenues of the gas stations fell by 15.7 percent from August to September.
"This is the largest month-on-month drop in sales since the time series began in 1994," the statisticians explained. "In August 2022, consumers had apparently used the last month of the fuel rebate to replenish their supplies." 4 percent up on the previous month.
Before the start of the Christmas business, the consumer mood among Germans recovered somewhat.
Based on their survey of around 2,000 consumers, Nuremberg-based GfK market researchers are predicting a slight increase in the generally gloomy consumer climate for November.
The brightened mood is likely to please retailers in particular, who are hoping for the best possible sales days in Christmas trading on Black Friday and Cyber Monday at the end of November.