Italian retail sales grew by 0.5% in value and 0.6% in volume in January 2019, compared to the previous month, according to Istat, the Italian statistics institute.
Food sales increased by 1.0% in value and 1.1% in volume, while non-food items saw slight growth of 0.1% in value and 0.2% in volume, compared to the previous month.
The Istat research also revealed that retail sales in January 2019 have increased by a rate of 1.3% in value and 1.5% in volume, when compared to the corresponding month the previous year.
Non-Food Products
In terms of non-food categories, 'Footwear, leather and travel articles' (+2.3%) recorded the strongest sales growth, as well as 'Electrical appliances, television, radio and recording devices' (+2.2%).
The highest year-on-year decrease in retail sales was seen in 'Stationery, books, newspapers and magazines' (-1.6%) and 'Pharmaceuticals' (-1.2%).
According to Istat research, Italian large scale retail sales rose by 2.8% in January 2019, compared to the previous 12 months, while sales in smaller stores decreased by 0.8%.
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Alessandra Arosio. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
