Istat has released data on retail trade for September 2025. Compared to August, the value and volume of products sold in Italy fell by 0.5%, with rather uniform declines both among food and non-food goods. The annual data calculated on the quarter show substantial stagnation.
Among the sectors most in difficulty are fashion purchases, with footwear and clothing at the bottom of the ranking. On the other hand, personal care products, medicines and telephones are growing.
Retail trade drops in September
In September 2025, retail sales recorded a decline throughout Italy. The decline is 0.5% in volume and value, but varies slightly depending on the product categories:
- food, -0.4% in value and -0.5% in volume;
- non-food -0.5% in value and -0.5% in volume.
In quarterly terms, however, the situation is essentially stable in terms of value, +0.1%, while there is a decline in terms of volumes sold. A particularly significant decline among food goods, of 0.9%.
On a trend basis, therefore compared to 2024, the change is positive. Sales grew by 0.5% in value, even if the decrease in volume reached 1.4%. If we observe the division into categories, the following data emerge:
- food +1.5% in value and -1.8% in volume;
- non-food -0.4% in value and -1.1% in volume.
Small shops are in difficulty
The dynamics of the places where goods are purchased by consumers is also relevant. In general, there is growth in all sectors, except for small surfaces. Information that confirms the difficulties of small shops in competing with large-scale distribution and especially with online commerce, which instead shows a very rapid acceleration. At an annual level, the variations are:
- large-scale distribution, +0.4%;
- businesses operating on small surfaces, -0.4%;
- non-store sales, +1.9%;
- e-commerce, +7.3%.
In total, however, there was an increase of 0.5% in the value of purchases over September 2024. Food in large-scale retail trade stands out in particular, growing by 1.7%.
The fashion sectors are down
As regards individual non-food retail products, the variations are rather heterogeneous. On the one hand, the fashion sector is especially declining, with footwear and clothing in serious contraction in September. On the other hand, pharmaceuticals confirms growth.
Products that saw a decline in sales values between August and September 2025 are:
- Footwear, leather and travel items -5.7%;
- Clothing and fur, -5.2%;
- Household appliances, radios, TVs and recorders, -1.6%;
- Games, toys, sports and camping, -1.2%;
- Furniture, textiles and furnishings, -0.8%.
On the other side of the ranking, however, the following are growing:
- Perfumery and personal care products, +4.0%;
- pharmaceuticals, +2.1%;
- IT, telecommunications and telephony equipment, +1.6%;
- jewelry and watches, +1.5%;
- photo-optics and films, magnetic supports, musical instruments, +1.2%;
- durable and non-durable household items, +1.1%;
- stationery, books, newspapers and magazines, +1.0%;
- household tools and hardware, +1.0%.
