By Emese Bartha

FRANKFURT--German retail sales increased in May, in line with expectations, according to data published by the Federal Statistics Office Destatis on Thursday.

Retail sales increased by 0.9% in real, adjusted terms in May from April, Destatis said. This outcome is in line with economists' forecast in The Wall Street Journal's survey. April saw a decline of 0.3% in retail sales.

On annual comparison, retail sales grew by 2.6% in real terms, Destatis said, adding that May 2016 had 24 shopping days compared with 23 in May 2015.

In the first five months of the year retail sales increased by 2.0% in real terms.

Among the product categories, food, beverages and tobacco sales were up 2.2% in May on the year in real terms, while non-food sales expanded by 2.8%. Selling via the internet and by mail order rose by 8.5% from the same month of the previous year, Destatis said.

German retail sales are considered a volatile indicator, prone to significant revisions. Hence economists tend to look at monthly data with caution and focus more on the three-month average.

Write to Emese Bartha at emese.bartha@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 30, 2016 02:22 ET (06:22 GMT)