German retail sales fell unexpectedly in April after rising for three consecutive months, according to the date from Destatis.
Retail sales turnover fell by a real 0.9% from March, when it was up 0.1%.
Year-on-year, retail sales grew 3.4%, rebounding from the 1.1% drop in March.
During the period, sales of food, beverages and tobacco surged 7.9% as against last year, while clothing and footwear sales slipped 1% and household goods sales dipped 2.7%.
In the first four months of the year, retail turnover was 1.2% larger, as against the same period last year.
The agency noted that the quarterly growth advanced to 0.8% from 0.4% in the fourth quarter.
However, growth is expected to slow in the second quarter.
The data are in line with timid retail growth across the single currency bloc.
For the euro-zone as a whole, retail sales were marginally up by 0.3% on the month in March, and 0.9% from the year-earlier month, in the most recent data available.
