Retail sales in Switzerland rose by 2.9% year-on-year in December 2025, exceeding market forecasts of a 2.5% increase and accelerating from a downwardly revised 1.7% gain in November. The latest figure also marked the strongest growth in retail activity since June, driven by a rebound in sales for food, beverages and tobacco (1.3% vs -1.5% in November). Turnover also continued to rise for non-food products excluding fuel (5.2% vs 5.3%), particularly for information and communication equipment (18.1% vs 12.5%) and other household equipment, textiles, DIY and furniture (8.3% vs 3%). Additionally, overall retail trade excluding fuel stations accelerated to 3.3% from 1.9% in November. In contrast, fuel retailing declined (-1.6% vs 0.8%), while sales growth via stalls and markets, via mail order houses or via internet (0.6% vs 6.8%) slowed significantly. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, retail sales grew by 1% in December, recovering from a 0.1% fall in the preceding period.