Italy’s retail sales increased by 0.6% month-on-month in January 2026, more than market expectations of a 0.2% rise and rebounding from a revised 0.7% fall in the previous month. Sales rose for both food (1.1%) and non-food products (0.2%). On an annual basis, retail sales grew by 2.3%, following a revised 1.1% increase in December, driven by higher sales of food (3.9%) and non-food products (1.2%). Among non-food items, sales went up for almost all product groups, notably in IT, telecommunications, and telephone equipment (+3.9%), while the largest drop was seen in footwear, leather goods, and travel goods (-2.2%). The value of retail sales rose sharply for large-scale distribution (4.1%) and e-commerce (4.6%), while it grew modestly for small retail outlets (0.2%) and dropped for out-of-store trade (-1.7%).
