The director of Confcommercio Lecco on Istat data: “It went better than expected, but some sectors remain in difficulty”
LECCO – Encouraging numbers are arriving, or at least going against the trend, fromIstat regarding retail sales in February 2024. Also the province of Lecco reflects the national trend where there is a slight increase in sales. In fact, there was a small increase of 0.1% in both value and volume compared to the previous month, while on an annual basis there was an increase of 2.4% in value and 0.3% in volume.
“If we wanted to summarize the numbers released by Istat (link to complete data in pdfed.) we could say that it went better than expected, even if some sectors are still suffering – explains the director of Confcommercio Lecco, Alberto Riva – Let’s say that, as also highlighted by the National Confcommercio Research Office, there are some elements that lead us to look at the prospects for consumer demand with less pessimism. After almost two years, sales have returned to showing a moderate increase in an annual comparison, an even longer period if we look at the food component alone. The sudden drop in inflation is perhaps starting to have its effects on the behavior of families but it is best to continue to be cautious”.
Returning to the numbers, sales of food goods increased by 0.1% in value and volume on a cyclical basis, and the same trend is found in comparison to February 2023 (+3.9% in volume and +0.4% in value). As for non-food products, there is a progress of 0.2% in value and 0.1% in volume on a cyclical basis, while the annual data speaks of a progress of 1.1% in value and 0.5% in volume.
In the quarter November 2023-January 2024, in economic terms, sales increase in value (+0.1%) and in volume (+0.3%), with sales of food goods stationary in value and down in volume (- 0.7%), while those of non-food goods increased in value (+0.2%) and decreased (-0.1%) in volume. As regards non-food goods, there are heterogeneous trend variations between the product groups: the greatest increase concerns perfumery and personal care products (+7.7%), while the strongest decrease is for supplies for IT, telecommunications and telephony (-1.8%). Compared to February 2023, the value of retail sales is growing for large-scale distribution (+4%) and sales outside of stores (+1%), while e-commerce is decreasing by 0.5%.
“However, the critical elements that are still present should not be overlooked – concludes director Riva – For traditional trade, net of inflation, the figure in the annual comparison remains negative. At the same time, for some segments, such as food, clothing and footwear, the modest growth in February only attenuated the significant drops in demand recorded in recent years. So we must not indulge in generalized enthusiasm. The difficulties are still there and the next few months will tell us whether growth can consolidate further”.
