German retail sales boom as shoppers stockpile for coronavirus

German households stocking up on daily essentials ahead of anticipated lock-down and quarantine measures caused retail sales in Germany to surge far beyond expectations in February, official data showed on Wednesday. On the year, retail sales jumped 6.4% on an adjusted basis, far outstripping the expectations of analysts, who had forecast an increase of just 1.5%. In the month, sales rose by 1.2%.

The spike in demand by households preparing for restrictions on going out and possible quarantine has already seen Germany-wide shortages of toilet roll and introduced the world to "hamster shopping", the German phrase for panic-buying. Sales rose across the board, the German Statistical Office said, but growth was particularly strong in food, drinks, and tobacco, where revenues were 7.8% higher than in February 2019. Supermarkets were the main beneficiaries, with revenues up 8.3%, compared to specialist retailers' growth of 3.5%.

The retail figures are a rare chink of light for Europe's largest economy, which has been hit by the coronavirus epidemic and is expected to fall into recession this year. Non-food sales also rose sharply, up 5.6% compared to February last year in real terms. Online and delivery services saw particularly strong growth, with revenues up 11% compared to the year before.

Pharmacies and cosmetics retailers also saw sales rise by 6.6%.