German retail sales hit a seven-year high in 2011, new data show, with a slight spending drop in November likely to be overtaken by a bumper Christmas.

Rising private consumption among notoriously fickle German consumers has gone some way to offset drops in the important export sector, according to the federal statistics office. As austerity bites elsewhere in Europe, preliminary figures showed German retail sales in 2011 rose by 1.3 per cent – or 2.9 per cent in nominal terms.

The positive retail data follow figures this week indicating a record number of Germans at work and the lowest jobless rate since German reunification. Matters are looking less rosy on Germany’s export front in 2012, however, due to weakening demand from crisis-stricken neighbours.