Italian retail sales growth accelerates in September

Italian retail sales grew in September. Sequentially, retail sales rose 0.7 percent in value terms and by 0.8 percent in volume terms, following two straight monthly declines in the series. In the third quarter, the value of retail trade rose 0.5 percent, while the quantity sold rose 0.4 percent on a quarter-on-quarter basis.

On a year-on-year basis, retail sales rose 0.9 percent in terms of value, whereas it rose 0.7 percent in terms of volume. This was the fourth consecutive rise. Large scale distribution rose 0.6 percent year-on-year, while small scale distribution dropped 0.4 percent year-on-year. Internet sales indicated the highest growth since July 2017, rising 26.3 percent in September 2019.

Looking at the value of sales for non-food products, the largest growths were seen for computers and telecommunications equipment and shoes, leather goods and travel items. Meanwhile, the largest drops were seen in stationery, books, newspapers and magazines and pharmaceutical products.