In Germany, retail sales fell sharply in December, as consumer spending continued to weaken, even throughout the Christmas season, according to new data published Tuesday by the nation’s statistic service Destatis.

Continually increasing inflation, a persisting energy crisis, and continued expectations of an economic slump in the largest economy in Europe all pressured consumers and forced a decline in consumer activity. Retail sales fell 6.4% year over year in December, far exceeding the 1.8% which economists had been expecting.

Retail turnover dropped 5.3% month over month, compared to the 1.9% seen in November.

Alexander Krueger, chief economist at Hauck Aufhaeuser Lampe Privatbank, said, “The downbeat consumer mood had heralded the crash in consumption… the decline is extremely severe, and high inflation has become a consumption killer.”

Online and mail-order sales also fell 3.8% month over month, with a 7.2% decline annually.

Carsten Brzeski, global head of macro at ING, said, “The sharp drop in retail sales showed that even the solid labor market cannot prevent high inflation and uncertainty from denting private consumption.” 

Thomas Gitzel, VP Bank chief economist, explained, that the loss of prosperity in Germany over the past year has weakened consumption. He went on to say that trend would continue since, “there is little change in this core dynamic for the time being.”

He added that the weakened consumption was ongoing, and would weigh on overall economic output for this quarter.