German retail sales fall unexpectedly in August

BERLIN (Reuters) – German retail sales unexpectedly fell in August, as persistently high inflation took its toll on consumption in the euro zone’s largest economy.

German retail sales fell by 1.2% in August compared with the previous month, data showed on Friday. Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted a 0.5% increase.

Year-on-year, retail sales fell by 2.3%, the data showed.

The federal statistics office publishes more details on its website.

(Reporting by Maria Martinez, Miranda Murray and Kirsti Knolle, Editing by Rachel More)