New drop in retail sales in Italy. This was revealed by Istat, whose raw index of total sales scores a 3,0% year-on-year decline in March, a synthesis of a 2,0% increase in sales of food products and a 6,1% decrease in those of non-food products.
Compared to February, the seasonally adjusted index records a contraction of 0,3%, while the average decrease in the first quarter of 2013 was 0,8% compared to the previous three months. On an annual basis, the raw index for the quarter is down by 3,4%.
As regards sales by distribution form, companies operating on small surfaces collapsed, -6,6% on an annual basis, while large-scale distribution recorded an increase of 1,3%, a synthesis of the 3,8% increase for food products and the 2,5% decrease for non-food products.
The advance of discounters continues among the non-specialised shops with a prevalence of food, with sales increasing by 4,8% on an annual basis in March, against +2,1% for supermarkets and +1,5% % of hypermarkets. As regards the value of sales of non-food products, all product groups decreased, in particular Clothing and furs (-9,0%) and Footwear, leather and travel items (-8,8%).
