• Istat: GDP forecast at + 6.3% in 2021 and + 4.7% in 2022

  • Istat: + 35,000 employed in October, + 390,000 in one year.

    Rate at 58.6%

  • Foreign trade, Istat: exports in September + 10.3% on the year but -1.3% on the month

  • Inflation: Istat revises prices upwards, in October + 3% on an annual basis

Share

06 December 2021 Setback for the first time since 2016 for online sales. According to what Istat points out in the surveys of retail trade, in October, among the forms of distribution there was a trend decline in electronic commerce, "for the first time since the beginning of the historical series". The contraction, equal to 3.7%, underlines the statistical institute, is also explained by the exceptionally high level of October 2020.



Retail sales: October + 0.1% on the month, + 3.7% on the year


In October 2021, on the other hand, a moderate economic growth is estimated for retail sales (+ 0.1% in value and + 0.2% in volume), notes Istat, specifying that the positive sign is determined by the sales of non-Italian goods. food (+ 0.3% in value and + 0.4% in volume) while those of foodstuffs are down (-0.1% in value and -0.2% in volume). On a trend basis, on the other hand, sales increased by 3.7% in value and 2.8% in volume



Food sales rise in small shops


In October, Italians preferred to buy food and drinks in small local shops rather than go shopping in large supermarkets.

This is what emerges from the surveys which show that in October the sales of food products recorded a decrease of 0.1% compared to a year earlier in large-scale distribution, compared to an increase of 0.4% in small-surface stores.

And Istat explains in particular that "for the food sector, there is a positive trend result for companies operating on small surfaces and a slight decline for large-scale distribution, in which supermarket sales are decreasing (-2.2 %).