According to the report from Istat, in March 2020 the seasonally adjusted index of retail trade sharply fell by 20.5% in value terms in the month on month series, while the volume decreased by 21.3%. These are the largest drops since the series began, as many stores ceased trading from 11 March following official government guidance during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

In the first quarter of 2020 value and volume of retail sales were down -5.8% and -5.9% respectively when compared with the fourth quarter of 2019.

The year-on-year series shows a strong decline in March 2020, as value decreased by -18.4% and volume dropped by -19.5%. Although value of food sales rose by +3.5%, value of non-food sales was down 36.0% from March 2019.

Large-scale distribution fell by 9.3% compared with the same period a year earlier, while small-scale distribution reported an even stronger reduction of 28.2%.

In March 2020, non-store sales were down 37.9% in the year on year series.

Online sales was the only channel of distribution recording a growth, increasing by 20.7% when compared with the same month a year earlier.