Down 1.6 per cent in the official German statistics for 2024

The German statistical office (Statistisches Bundesamt, Destatis) has presented its preliminary annual figures for 2024 for the DIY retail sector. According to the figures, retail sales in the DIY sector were down 1.4 per cent in nominal terms and 1.6 per cent in real terms last year compared to the previous year.

However, a positive trend emerged towards the end of the year with consistently slightly positive monthly growth rates in the fourth quarter. Most recently, December saw growth of 0.5 per cent in nominal terms and 0.4 per cent in real terms compared to the same month of the previous year.

According to Destatis, real sales trends in the DIY retail sector have been declining since 2021.

The statistics presented by Destatis are not congruent with the figures collected and published by the German DIY association BHB. However, the trends resulting from the two data sources are of…