Rise in Italy’s retail sales in July driven by supermarkets

(Reuters) – Italian retail trade rose marginally in July as large-scale food distribution pushed up sales, data showed on Thursday.

Retail sales increased by 0.4% in value from June and by 2.7% in unadjusted year-on-year terms, national statistics institute ISTAT said.

Sales in large-scale distribution were up 5.5% on the year, with food distribution, in particular discount supermarkets, increasing by 7.1%, ISTAT said.

The data was expressed in value terms and was not adjusted for consumer prices, which increased by 6.4% in July from the year earlier, based on Italy’s EU-harmonised index (HICP).

“On a yearly basis, there is a persistent trend of an increasing value in sales, especially in the food sector, as opposed to a decrease in volumes,” ISTAT said, as non-food products drove lower volumes.

Volumes declined by 4.5% year-on-year, compared to a 1.0% drop in the euro zone, and edged down by 0.2% on the month, in line with the other members of the currency bloc.

Italy’s economy has slowed down in recent months, with GDP falling by 0.4% in the second quarter compared with the previous three months, revised data showed in September.

ISTAT singled out the negative impact of the domestic component on the reading.

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