Italy retail sales fall 0.4% m/m in August

(Reuters) – Italian retail sales fell 0.4% in August from the month before, data showed on Friday, following a 1.3% rise in July.

Sales rose 4.3% in unadjusted year-on-year terms in August, ISTAT said.

The data are expressed in value terms and are not adjusted for consumer prices, which increased 9.1% in August from the year earlier, based on Italy’s EU-harmonised index (HICP).

ISTAT gave the following data:

AUG JUL JUN

Mth/Mth change* -0.4 +1.3 -1.1

Yr/yr change** +4.3 +4.1r +1.3

Food sales (m/m) -0.5 +1.3r +0.4

Non-food sales (m/m) -0.3 +1.2r -2.3r

*seasonally adjusted

**unadjusted

r=revised

(Reporting by Luca Fratangelo, editing by Valentina Consiglio)