The first half of the year was not good for the Bavarian retail trade. Price-adjusted sales were 3.9 percent below the values for the same period last year, as the State Statistical Office announced on Monday. Above all, the food trade lost: Here the minus was even 5.9 percent.
However, nominally – without compensating for the high inflation – sales have increased: in retail by a total of 3.3 percent, in food retail by as much as 7.5 percent. In this area, however, prices have risen particularly sharply over the year.
Nevertheless, the current figures show a certain calming: In the first few months of the year, the decline was even more pronounced. In April, sales even fell nominally. In June, on the other hand, there was even the first price-adjusted increase in a month at 0.8 percent.
“So far, 2023 has not gone as many people had hoped,” said Bernd Ohlmann, Managing Director of the Bavarian Trade Association. “So far we haven’t felt any improvement.” The incriminating factors – from the war in Ukraine to the high energy costs to the lack of skilled workers – remained, so that he currently sees no light at the end of the tunnel. “And the way things are going so far, these are not good omens for the Christmas business either.”