Retail sales up in April. The relative seasonally adjusted index elaborated by Istat, in fact, marks an increase of 0,4% compared to the month of March and of 2,6% on an annual basis, i.e. the highest trend increase since April 2011, thanks also to the Easter holidays in April. On average for the February-April 2014 quarter, however, the index does not record any variation on the previous three months.
On a monthly basis, there was an increase in sales of food products (+1,2%), while those of non-food products decreased slightly (-0,1%). On an annual basis, a strong increase was recorded for the sales of food products (+6,7%) and a more contained one for those of non-food products (+0,2%).
As far as the form of distribution is concerned, a fair annual comparison has seen increases both for sales of large-scale distribution (+5,0%) and for those of companies operating on small surfaces (+0,4%).
In the first four months of 2014, the raw index showed a decline of 0,8% on an annual basis. Sales of food products fell by 0,5%, and those of non-food products by 0,8%.
