Press release No. 438 of 5 November 2020
WIESBADEN – As new COVID-19 infections are reaching record highs almost every day and directly before the partial lockdown in Germany started on 2 November 2020, demand for selected sanitary products and food increased in some cases. A special evaluation of experimental data of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) shows that the sales figures of toilet tissue in Week 43 (19 to 24 October 2020) were more than twice (+139%) the average of the pre-crisis months from August 2019 to January 2020. Nevertheless, the increase in the subsequent week (Week 44 from 26 to 31 October 2020) was smaller (84%). The sales of disinfectants rose continuously in the past few weeks and were more than twice (+104%) the pre-crisis average in Week 44.
| Produkt | Week 10 | Week 11 | Week 39 | Week 40 | Week 41 | Week 42 | Week 43 | Week 44 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soap | 153 | 235 | 31 | 14 | 30 | 62 | 56 | 51 |
| Toilet paper | 99 | 131 | 11 | -4 | 21 | 90 | 139 | 84 |
| Disinfectants | 751 | 206 | 33 | 21 | 53 | 73 | 94 | 104 |
| Pasta | 150 | 140 | -34 | -16 | -20 | 0 | 110 | 8 |
| Flour | 99 | 192 | 2 | -11 | -1 | 28 | 63 | 101 |
| Sugar | 39 | 101 | 5 | 98 | -7 | 3 | 22 | 63 |
| Yeast | 51 | 132 | 8 | 8 | 15 | 35 | 67 | 74 |
| Rice | 41 | 163 | 67 | -22 | 10 | 53 | 18 | 11 |
| Strained tomatoes | 88 | 206 | 30 | -19 | 26 | 0 | 24 | 44 |
| Canned vegetables | 59 | 137 | -6 | -5 | 7 | -12 | -1 | 41 |
Methodological note:
The data are based on new data sources and methods. Digital point-of-sale data. also referred to as scanner data. were evaluated for this purpose. Evaluations of this kind are experimental in character and form part of a project on "Experimental data". which is undertaken by the Federal Statistical Office to test new data sources and methods. Selected project results are available at www.destatis.de/exdat.
