By Mucahithan Avcioglu
ISTANBUL (AA) - The German retail sales were down 0.3% from a month ago in October, defying market expectations, according to official data released on Friday.
The decline came after a 0.3% growth in September, while the markets had expected the sales to edge up 0.1% in October.
Food sales rose 1.2% month-on-month in September, while non-food retail sales dropped 0.7%, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) data showed.
On a yearly basis, the retail sales increased 0.9% in the same month.
Food sales were up 1.8% on an annual basis in October, while non-food sales rose 1%.
In e-commerce and mail orders, retail sales recorded a monthly decline of 0.6% and a yearly climb of 4% in October.