The epidemic strikes again, and the European Christmas consumption season may face a cold winter

A surge in coronavirus cases in Germany has contributed to a disappointing start to the Christmas season for retailers in Europe's largest economy, industry bodies said on Sunday .

A survey by the HDE Retail Association showed that only 20% of the 350 companies asked were satisfied with Christmas sales so far. However, based on previous sales experience, November and December are usually the strongest months of the year for retailers .

"Until November, retailers had been managing to overcome rising inflation, increasing infection rates and supply bottlenecks," said HDE Managing Director Stefan Genth. "However, the sharply worsening consequences of the coronavirus crisis have put these efforts in vain."

Earlier this month, HDE forecast Christmas sales to rise 2% from last year to 111.7 billion euros.

Genth said that currently, control measures in stores, such as checking vaccination certificates, were keeping customers away. He hoped that stores would reduce restrictions because wearing masks had significantly reduced the infection rate of the new coronavirus .

Germany is struggling to contain a fourth wave of the coronavirus, with some 44,401 new cases registered on Sunday , according to the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases .

But other European countries may not be as severely affected by the epidemic, and they are returning to their pre-epidemic status . For example, the traditional Christmas market in Plaza Mayor in the Spanish capital Madrid is scheduled to open on Friday, with the same scale as before the epidemic .

However, the latest surge in COVID-19 cases has cast a shaky light on the outlook for Europe’s economic recovery, leading some economists to hedge their growth forecasts for the final months of the year.

Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg Bank in London , said he cut his forecast for the final three months of the year for the 19 countries that use the euro to 0.5% from 0.7%. But he noted that the impact of the infection wave on the entire economy may be smaller because vaccinations have reduced severe illness and many companies have learned how to cope with such sudden changes .

Europe

epidemic

Christmas Season