Italy's retail sales rose more than expected in February

According to the report from Istat, in February 2021 estimates for seasonally adjusted index of retail trade increased by 6.6% in value terms in the month on month series, likewise volume grew by 7.2%. Economists had expected a 2.0% increase in value terms.

In the three months to February 2021, despite the monthly growth, value of sales fell by 2.2% and volume contracted by 2.6% when compared with the previous three months.

Year-on-year, value of retail trade continued to decrease, dropping by 5.7%. Volume sales contracted by 7.0%.

In February 2021, all channels of distribution, besides e-commerce, continued their fall when compared with February 2020. Large-scale distribution was down 5.8%, small-scale distribution dropped by 7.6% and non-store retail sales decreased by 6.6%. This last channel of distribution has been recording no growth for 13 consecutive months.

Online sales continued their rise in February 2021, with sales up 35.8% compared with the same period a year earlier.

Looking at the value of sales for non-food products, all sectors experienced no growth besides computers and telecommunications equipment (+12.0%) and electric household appliances, audio-video equipment (+8.9%). The largest annual falls were reported for shoes, leather goods and travel items (-12.7%) and pharmaceutical products (-12.3%).