Figures from the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) showed that retail sales fell 0.2% in June after rising by 0.4% in May. It was the biggest drop since December 2023. Economists had expected an increase by 0.2%. Sales of non-food products declined by 0.2%, while food sales also fell by 0.2%. Meanwhile, over the three-month period (through June), retail sales increased by 0.1% compared to the previous quarter. Sales of non-food products and food sales remained unchanged.
On an annual basis, retail sales fell by 1.0% in June, offsetting the May increase (+0.4%), and recording the second drop in the last three months. Consensus estimates suggested a 0.9% drop. Food sales grew by 0.1%, while non-food fell by 1.7%.
The data also showed that in June, large-scale distribution was up 0.5% per annum, small-scale distribution was down 2.0% per annum and non-store retail sales decreased by 4.2% per annum. Meanwhile, online sales fell by 3.9% compared to June 2023.
Italy's economic growth slowed to 0.2% q/q in the second quarter, in line with forecasts, driven by domestic demand. In the first quarter, GDP grew by 0.3%. On a year-on-year basis, second quarter GDP was up 0.9%, also in line with forecasts. The statistics bureau signaled that the quarterly increase was the fourth consecutive one, with "acquired variation growth" at the end of the second quarter at 0.7%. That means that if quarterly GDP growth were flat for the rest of 2024, full year growth would still come in at 0.7%.