| Actual | Previous | |
| Month over Month | 0.6% | -0.8% |
| Year over Year | 2.3% | 0.9% |
Highlights
Retail sales increased 0.6 percent in January on a seasonally adjusted basis compared to the previous month and were 2.3 percent higher than a year ago in nominal terms.
Sales increases were quite widespread, led by a 3.9 percent year-over-year increase in sales of computers and telecommunications equipment. Respective gains of 3.6 percent and 3.5 percent were reported for optical instruments and photo equipment, and cosmetics and toiletries.
Sales at large distributors rose 4.1 percent year-on-year, while those at small retailers rose only 0.2 percent. Online sales were 4.6 percent higher than a year ago.
In real, or volume, terms sales were up 0.2 percent on the month and 0.9 percent on the year. Should the trend continue, it will have positive implications for first quarter GDP.
The conflict in the Middle East adds a new element of uncertainty and increased fuel and energy prices could eat into discretionary spending in the coming months.
Definition
Retail sales measure the total receipts at stores that sell durable and nondurable goods. The headline data are expressed in nominal terms but volume statistics are also available. Autos are excluded. Only a very limited breakdown of subsector performance is available in the first report but much greater detail is provided in the following month's release. The Italian National Institute of Statistics (Istat) is the main producer of official statistics in Italy.
Description
With consumer spending a large part of the economy, market players continually monitor spending patterns. Retail sales are a measure of consumer well-being. The pattern in consumer spending is often the foremost influence on stock and bond markets. For stocks, strong economic growth translates to healthy corporate profits and higher stock prices. For bonds, the focus is whether economic growth goes overboard and leads to inflation. Ideally, the economy walks that fine line between strong growth and excessive (inflationary) growth.