German retail sales fall in July

FRANKFURT: German retail sales, a closely watched measure of household confidence, fell in July, official data showed on Monday.

German retailers' sales dropped by 1.4 percent in July compared with June, the federal statistics office Destatis said in a statement.

It was the steepest drop since January 2012 and deeper than analysts' expectations.

Retail sales had increased by 1.0 percent the previous month.

On a 12-month basis, however, business increased by 0.7 percent in July compared with the same month last year, the statisticians calculated.

Retail sales data are subsequent to frequent revision.