Retail sales in October rose 0.4% over September and were 2.3% higher than in October of last year, national statistics bureau Istat reported on Thursday.
The year-on-year rise was above the inflation rate for that month, +2.1%, and was the best result since March of this year.
Compared to October 2006, food sales climbed 2.9%, while sales of non-food products rose 1.8%.
In the first ten months of the year, compared to the same period last year, retail sales inched up by only 0.7%, due to the slowdown in buying over the past few months.
Year-on-year retail sales in October jumped 5.5% in the northwest, 2.9% in central Italy and 2.5% in the south, while in the northeast they tumbled 3.2%.
