German retail sales suffer biggest fall in seven years

German retail sales posted their biggest monthly decline in more than seven years in September, a sign that consumers cannot be relied on to prop up Europe’s largest economy.

Data from the country’s Federal Statistics Office showed retail sales, which are notoriously volatile and tend to be extensively revised, dropped by 3.2% in real terms compared with August — their biggest drop since May 2007.

“A drop had been expected after the strong August, but not this kind of dramatic fall. It’s bad because it makes a recession in Germany more likely,” said Holger Sandte, an economist at Nordea Bank.