Retail trade sales recorded a year-on-year decrease of 1.6% in September, their largest drop in nearly four years—specifically since November 2022—according to data released this Thursday by the National Statistics Institute (INE). With this year-on-year drop, which widens the contraction experienced in August by 0.5 percentage points, retail sales have now logged three consecutive months of negative rates.
Within the retail sector, food product sales fell by 0.3%, while sales of non-food products increased by 0.4% year-on-year, with declines of 8.4% in personal equipment and gains of 4.2% in household equipment and 2.8% in health products.
Meanwhile, sales at service stations dropped by 6.8% in the ninth month of the year compared to the same month in 2025.
By distribution channel, small chain stores, department stores, and single-outlet retailers cut their sales in September by 2.1%, 0.7%, and 0.3% year-on-year, respectively. On the other hand, sales rose in e-commerce (+1.7%) and large chain stores (+1.3%).
Adjusted for seasonal and calendar effects, retail sales fell by 1.4% in September compared to the same month in 2025, a rate 0.9 percentage points lower than the previous month. This drop also marks three consecutive months of negative performance.
On a month-on-month basis (September vs. August), adjusted for seasonal and calendar effects, retail sales decreased by 0.4%, following a 0.2% uptick in the previous month.
