According to the report from the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), in September 2021 estimates for seasonally adjusted index of retail trade rose in the month on month series by 0.8% in value terms, while volume grew by 0.6%. In September 2021 levels of value of sales were higher than those of pre-pandemic February 2020, while levels of volume were the same of those seen in February 2020.
In the 3rd quarter of 2021 value of sales was up 1.2% when compared with the previous three-month period, likewise volume increased by 0.7%.
In September 2021 both value and volume of retail trade continued to grow for the 7th month in a row in the year on year series. Value sales increased by 5.3% and volume sales rose by 3.9% comparing to September 2020.
In September 2021, all channels of distribution increased when compared with the same month a year earlier. Large-scale distribution was up 2.8%, small-scale distribution rose by 6.3%, while non-store retail sales grew by 7.6%.
Online sales increased by 18.8% in September 2021 when compared with September 2020.
Looking at the value of sales for non-food products, all sectors experienced growth besides Furniture, textile items and household furnishing (-0.7%). The largest increases were reported for Electric household appliances, audio-video equipment (+26.3%) and Other goods (+9.9%)