The recovery remains stuck at the post. And also due to taxes from Covid, in April, retail sales fell compared to March: -0.4% in terms of value and -0.5% in volume. Those of food goods have increased (+ 1%) thanks to – probably – Easter and 25 April, while non-food ones have fallen again: -1.5% in value and -1.7% in volume. Of course, Istat recorded a jump of 30.4% compared to the same period last year, when the whole of Italy was blocked by the first lockdown. In the quarter February-April 2021, in quarterly terms, retail sales increased by 4.3% in value and volume, compared to the November-January period.
“Covid continues to make its effects felt on trade, with retail sales recording a further contraction on a monthly basis in April,” says Codacons, commenting on data released by Istat. “The trend in retail sales is extremely disappointing and clearly attests that household consumption in 2021 does not restart – explains the president Carlo Rienzi – The comparison with 2020 is largely distorted by the total lockdown recorded last year, while the data on a monthly basis they are impetuous, and only the food trend is a positive voice for trade: in the non-food sector, in fact, sales in April fell by -1.5% in value and -1.7% in volume compared to the previous month which had already recorded negative numbers ».
Among non-food goods, there are positive trend variations for all product groups. The greatest increases relate to Furniture, textiles, furnishings (+ 653.0%) and Footwear, leather and travel items (+ 431.3%), while for pharmaceutical products there was a smaller growth (+ 6%). ). Compared to April 2020, the value of retail sales increases in all distribution channels: large-scale distribution (+ 22.8%), businesses operating on small surfaces (+ 38.1%), sales outside of stores (+ 61.0%) and electronic commerce (+ 35.2%).
“The Istat data – concludes Rienzi – once again confirm the alarm launched by Codacons on the consumption front, which in 2021 will not restart in the face of a sharp rise in inflation that will penalize the pockets of Italian families”.
However, the Stocard Observatory shows some positive signs. The country manager for Italy, Valeria Santoro notes a “partial but progressive return to purchasing standards, the hope is that the recovery can take place in the shortest possible time because we all need ‘normality’ and economic growth that is of help for the country and for citizens “. According to data from the leading company in the loyalty card sector, Italians have increased the frequency with which they go to large-scale distribution stores, reaching 6 times a month compared to 7 in the pre-covid period (between March and April 2020, the frequency had dropped 4 times a month and with 25% of consumers limiting their spending to just once a month).
Meanwhile, in Germany, production expectations dropped in May compared to April: “When it comes to production expectations, the picture is very different in individual sectors,” says IFO expert Klaus Wohlrabe. the automotive industry and its suppliers are significantly reducing their expectations, but continue to anticipate production increases ». The Zew confidence index also fell.