Retail sales in Germany decreased at a monthly rate of 1.9% in February, data by the Federal Statistical Office showed on Thursday.
The actual figure confounded market expectations of a 0.3% monthly growth.
It has been the sharpest rate of decline in retail trade since October 2022 due to the impact of sticky inflation and high interest rates.
In February, non-food sales dropped 1.7% compared to the prior month, while sales of food decreased 1%.
In annual terms, German retail sales shrank 2.7% in February, which marked the fourth consecutive month of contraction and the steepest fall since September 2023.
Market consensus had pointed to a much slower decrease, by 0.8%.
Last year, the country’s retail turnover shrank 3.3%, the data showed.
The Euro was last 0.23% weaker against the US Dollar on Thursday, with the EUR/USD currency pair trading at 1.0802.
The major Forex pair hovered just above a four-week low of 1.0801, which it registered earlier in the session.
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