Official figures show that German retail sales staged a minor recovery in January, rising 1.6% compared with December. This resulted in an annual increase of 0.6%.
According to preliminary figures, sales of non-food products rose 2.3% from last year but those of food, beverages and tobacco fell 1.9%.
In December retail sales had plunged at an annual rate of 7% and were down 0.2% from November.
Separate figures showed that the annual rate of German inflation was 2.8% in January, driven by increases in the food and energy sectors, though prices fell 0.4% from December.
