Retail trade

The retail trade index measures the monthly evolution of the turnover at current prices of enterprises with retail sale outlets. With effect from January 2013, the indices are calculated with reference to the base year 2010 using the Ateco 2007 classification (Italian edition of Nace Rev. 2).

In September 2017, the value of retail trade was estimated to have increased by 3.4% compared with September 2016; both store types showed growth with the largest contribution coming from large scale distribution (+5.6%). Year-on-year estimates of the volume of retail trade also shows growth, as the index was up 2.7%.

Compared with a month ago, both the value of sales and the quantity bought increased by 0.9%, with non-food and food retailing all providing growth. This is the highest month-on-month growth in retail trade index since January 2017.

The underlying pattern in the data, as suggested by the quarter-on-quarter movement in the value of sales is one of growth, increasing by 0.3%, while the retail trade volume index is up 0.1%.