Italian retail sales fell 0.1% in February from the month before, data showed on Wednesday, following a 1.7% rise in January. Sales rose 5.8% in unadjusted year-on-year terms in February, ISTAT said.

The data are expressed in value terms and are not adjusted for consumer prices, which increased 9.8% in February from the year earlier, based on Italy's EU-harmonised index (HICP). ISTAT gave the following data: FEB JAN DEC Mth/Mth change* -0.1 +1.7 -0.1r Yr/yr change** +5.8 +6.0r +3.6 Food sales (m/m) -0.3 +2.2 +0.2r Non-food sales (m/m) +0.1 +1.4 -0.5 *seasonally adjusted **unadjusted r=revised (Reporting by Alessandro Parodi; editing by Antonella Cinelli)