Italy’s retail sales rose 0.6% month-on-month in January 2026, beating market expectations of a 0.2% increase and recovering from a revised 0.7% decline in December. Sales rebounded for both food (up 1.1% vs. -0.8% in December) and non-food products (up 0.2% vs. -0.7%).
On an annual basis, retail sales grew 2.3%, the strongest increase in nine months, following a revised 1.1% gain in December. The advance was driven by higher sales of both food (3.9% vs. 2.0%) and non-food products (1.2% vs. 0.4%).
Within the non-food segment, sales rose across nearly all categories, with particularly strong growth in IT, telecommunications, and telephone equipment (3.9%). The steepest decline was recorded in footwear, leather goods, and travel goods (-2.2%).
By distribution channel, the value of retail sales increased sharply for large-scale retail chains (4.1%) and e-commerce (4.6%), rose modestly for small retail outlets (0.2%), and fell for out-of-store trade (-1.7%).
