ROME (dpa-AFX) - Italy's retail sales grew at the strongest pace in three months in December, after a fall in the previous month, preliminary data from the statistical office ISTAT showed Tuesday.
In value terms, retail sales grew 0.9 percent from November, when they fell 0.4 percent. Food sales rose 1.7 percent and non-food sales edged up 0.1 percent.
Among non-food products, sales in all sectors except electric household appliances and audio-video equipment segment. Furniture, textiles and household furnishings, clothing, and pharmaceutical products registered the biggest sales growth figures in December.
On a year-on-year basis, the retail sales value increased 9.4 percent in December after a 12.4 percent rise in November. Sales rose annually for the tenth month in a row.
Online sales decreased 4.1 percent year-on-year in December, marking the second decline in 2021. That said, levels of online sales in December were still substantially higher than those seen in February 2020, before the pandemic, ISTAT said.
In the fourth quarter, the retail sales value grew 1.1 percent from the previous three months, and volume increased 0.8 percent.
For the full year 2021, retail sales value and volume of sales increased 7.9 percent and 7.2 percent, respectively.
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