Spain Retail Sales Growth Quickens in January

Retail trade in Spain rose by 4% year-on-year in January 2026, accelerating from a downwardly revised 2.8% advance in the prior month. Sales grew the most for non-food products (5.7%), including personal equipment (5.6%), household equipment (2.5%), and other goods (2.4%). Meanwhile, spending on food products increased by 2.5%. By distribution channel, online sales surged 9.5%, with large chains up 7.1% and single stores rising 1.8%. In contrast, sales declined at small chain stores (-1.1%) and department stores (-0.5%). On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, retail trade edged up by 0.1%, following a revised 0.9% decrease in the previous month.

Retail sales in Spain rose by 2.9% year-on-year in December 2025, the smallest increase since January, last year, following a 6% surge in the prior month. Sales growth slowed markedly for non-food products (+3.6% vs +7.8% in November), of which household equipment (+3.6% vs +8%), personal equipment (+2.2% vs 13.2%) and healthcare (3.8% vs 6.4%). Spending on food rose by 2.9%, down from a 4.7% advance in November. Sales turnover showed notable increases in large chain stores (+7.7%) and e-commerce (+7.4%), offset by a 2.8% decline in department stores. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, retail trade fell by 0.8% in December, the most since January 2025, after a 1% increase in the month before. Lower sales were recorded for both non-food products (-0.9%) and food (-0.4%). For the full year of 2025, retail sales increased 4.3% over a year ago.

Spain’s retail trade growth accelerated to 6.0% year-on-year in November 2025, up from a revised 3.9% in October, marking the fastest pace since June. Gains were broad-based, with stronger sales in household equipment (6.0% vs 3.8%), cultural and recreation goods (4.9% vs 1.1%), and other goods in specialized stores (5.7% vs 2.9%). Sales via stalls and markets also picked up (0.8% vs 0.1%), while online trade surged 11.9% compared with 9.1% in October. Trade growth remained robust for food, beverages, and tobacco (4.1% vs 5.2%) and for information and communication equipment (19.9% vs 21.4%). On a monthly basis, retail sales rose 1% in November, following no change in October.