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.