Consumption is not taking off in Italy. Istat estimates for March a cyclical variation (compared to the previous month) which is practically nil (minus 0.1% in value and plus 0.1% in volume) which summarizes growth for food goods (+ 1.9% in value and + 1.7% in volume) and a decrease for non-food products (-1.6% in value and -1.1% in volume). On a trend basis, compared to March 2020 conditioned by the lockdown and the outbreak of the pandemic, there was instead a growth of 22.9% in value and 23.5% in volume.
The rebound only on an annual basis
The rebound on an annual basis – explains the Institute of Statistics – due in particular to the sales of non-food goods, largely blocked by lockdown a year ago, which recorded a very strong increase in both value and volume (respectively + 49.7% and + 50.3%); sales of food products are also growing, albeit to a lesser extent (+ 3.7% in value and volume). Among non-food goods, there are positive trend variations for all product groups.
The boom of games
The biggest annual increases concern Games, toys, sports and camping (+ 110.7%) and Photo-optics and films, magnetic supports, musical instruments (109.2%), while for Pharmaceutical products there was a minor growth (+ 0.7%). Compared to March 2020, the value of retail sales increases in all distribution channels: large-scale distribution (+ 17.0%), businesses operating on small surfaces (+ 27.8%), sales outside of stores (+ 43.8%) and electronic commerce (+ 39.9%). Overall in the first quarter of 2021, in economic terms, retail sales increased by 0.2% in value and decreased by 0.3% in volume. Those of food goods fell by 0.6% in value and 0.4% in volume, while sales of non-food goods grew in value (+ 0.9%) but showed a slight decline in volume (-0.2 %).