German retail sales fell 1.8 percent in 2009 and are expected to fell 0.5 percent in 2010, even the whole economy is on a way of recovering, according to the data released on Tuesday.
German retail sales decreased by 1.8 percent in 2009 compared with 2008, according to provisional statistical results, German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) said.
Retail sales for 2010 in Germany is expected to fell 0.5 percent compared with 2009, said Stefan Genth, Chief executive of German retail industry group HDE at a press conference in Berlin.
The turnover of retail sales in 2009 amounted to 392.1 billion euros, 6.5 billion euros less than in 2008, said Genth.
"The result is a little bit better than we could expect in light of the crisis," Genth said.
Before the release of data of German retail sales in 2009, local media estimated that there will be a 2.0 percent drop.
Genth also kept alert on the outlook of the retail sales in 2010.
"Although we will not crash this year. But a result is weak on the previous year's level is no reason to cheer, "said Genth. "The situation remains tense."
Germany has suffered its worst recession since the outbreak of the world financial crisis in September 2008, Its economy has begun a weak recovery since the second quarter in 2009, while the whole economy still contract 5.0 percent in 2009. It is expected that the recovering trend will continue in both 2010 and 2011, and its GDP will see a 1.5 percent of increase in 2010.
