The value of retail sales in Italy fell by 0.4% month-on-month in July 2026, following a revised 0.2% decline in June and defying market expectations of a 0.2% increase. This marked the second consecutive monthly drop, driven by lower sales of both food (-0.4% vs -0.6% in June) and non-food products (-0.4% vs 0.2% in June).
On a yearly basis, retail sales rose by 0.8%, slowing from a 3.1% increase in the previous month, as growth weakened for both food (0.3% vs 1.9%) and non-food (1.1% vs 4.0%) categories. Within non-food products, the strongest gains were seen in household appliances, radios, televisions, and tape recorders (6.1%), as well as in the residual “other products” category (5.0%). These increases were partially offset by a decline in sales of footwear, leather goods, and travel goods (-2.8%).
By distribution channel, retail sales grew in large-scale distribution (1.6%) and in online commerce (2.4%).
