Retail Trade

Retail trade ebbed a seasonally adjusted 0.1% in April, which was a downside surprise to market participants who expected a 0.3% gain. The decline in April followed three consecutive months of moderate increases.

Nominal retail trade rose a seasonally adjusted 0.3% in March, slightly missing market expectations for a 0.4% gain. Retail sales volumes were flat in Q1, following solid gains in the second half of 2024.

Retail trade rose a seasonally adjusted 0.2% in February, which was slightly less than the 0.3% gain pencilled in by the market consensus. Following solid gains in late 2024, the pace of revival in consumer spending slowed in the first two months of this year, with a clear shift away from discretionary goods.

Retail trade rose a seasonally adjusted 0.3% in January, in line with the market consensus, which followed an unrevised 0.1% decline in December and 0.7% rise in November. The annual rate of growth decelerated by 0.7ppts to 3.8%, down from a 21-month high in December. Western Australian retail trade rose by 0.4% in January, to be up by 5.5% through the year, the most of all the states.

Retail trade declined by a seasonally adjusted 0.1% in December, significantly less than the 0.7% fall pencilled in by the market consensus. In the entirety of Q4, retail sales rose by a nominal 1.4%, with volumes up by 1.0% and prices increasing by 0.4%. Retail trade volumes per capita picked up 0.5% in Q4, the first increase since Q2 2022.

Retail trade rose a seasonally adjusted 0.8% in November, (mkt exp. 1.0%), following a revised 0.5% increase in October (originally 0.6%). Annual growth in retail sales eased to 3.0%, from 3.5% in October.