Sales of sports equipment up as overall retail market declines in Germany

Source: Xinhua | 2020-06-03

Retail sales of sports and camping equipment as well as bicycles in Germany increased in real terms by 12.5 percent in April compared to the previous month, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) said on Tuesday.

Sports and camping were the "sectors with the highest sales increases in retail trade in the comparable time frame," Destatis noted. At almost 20 percent, only retailers of plants, seeds and zoological supplies recorded higher sales in April.

Overall, the value of total retail sales in Germany fell by 5.3 percent compared to the previous month. Stores selling clothing, textiles, shoes and leather goods were particularly affected by the COVID-19 crisis and recorded a sharp 38 percent drop in sales, according to Destatis.

Demand for bicycles as well as sports and camping equipment in Germany has been growing "not only since the coronavirus crisis," Destatis noted. Between 2015 and 2019, sales rose by almost a third.

Monday saw the launch of the annual "cycle to work" campaign organized jointly by the German National Cyclists Association (ADFC) and the Federal Association of Health Insurance Funds (AOK). The campaign was first launched in 2001. So far, 271,496 Germans have registered for the campaign.