Data published by the National Institute of Statistics (STAT) showed that retail sales fell by 0.4% in November after an increase of 0.1% in October. Economists had expected an increase by 0.6%.
Meanwhile, in annual terms, sales grew for the 9th month in a row - in November they increased by 12.5% after an increase by 3.7% in October. Economists had expected an increase by 7.4%.
The data also showed that in the period from September to November, retail sales increased by 1.2% compared to the previous three-month period (through October).
ISTAT reported that the catalyst for annual sales growth was large-scale distribution (+9.5%), small-scale distribution (+16.5%) and non-store retail sales (+15.9%). Meanwhile, online sales jumped by 6.6% per annum.
As for the volume of sales of non-food products, growth was observed in all sectors except computers and telecommunications equipment (-0.9%).