Retail sales in Switzerland increased by 0.9% year-on-year in February 2026, rebounding from a downwardly revised 0.6% decline in January. Turnover in the non-food sector excluding fuel recovered, rising 2.8% after a 1% drop in the previous month. This improvement was mainly driven by higher sales of other goods (up 5% vs down 1.3%) and information and communication equipment (up 0.2% vs 2.3%), while the decline in cultural and recreational goods moderated (-0.5% vs -5.6%). Overall retail trade excluding fuel stations also picked up (1.1% vs -0.7%).
By contrast, sales of food, beverages and tobacco fell at a faster pace (-1.1% vs -0.2%), and growth in fuel retailing weakened (2.1% vs 3.2%). On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, total retail activity rose by 0.4% in February, following a revised 1.6% decline in the prior month.
