This page contains publications on both monthly and quarterly retail trade numbers. The monthly notes discuss developments in the value of sales across industry groups and states, while the quarterly notes contain additional information about real (price-adjusted) retail trade, as well as retail prices.
- 28 Sep 2023 Retail Trade August 2023
Retail trade rose a seasonally adjusted 0.2% in August, slightly less than the 0.3% pencilled in by the consensus. The annual rate of retail sales growth declined to 1.5% in seasonally adjusted terms and 1.3% in trend terms, which is the slowest trend growth on record.
- 28 Aug 2023 Retail Trade July 2023
Retail trade rose a seasonally adjusted 0.5% in July, which was more than the 0.3% pencilled in by the market consensus. The ABS explained the stronger-than-expected result with additional spending, at least partly related to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
- 03 Aug 2023 Retail Trade Q2 2023
Retail sales volumes fell a seasonally adjusted 0.5% in Q2, in line with the market expectations. The implicit retail sales deflator rose by 0.9%, faster than the 0.7% registered in the previous quarter.
- 28 Jul 2023 Retail Trade June 2023
Retail trade fell a seasonally adjusted 0.8% in June, which was a large disappointment to market participants who had expected no change. The drop in retail trade was partly a setback from the surprisingly strong increase of 0.8% in May, driven by earlier end of financial year sales and supersized sales related to Mother’s Day. Retail sales fell in all mainland states except for Western Australia.
- 29 Jun 2023 Retail Trade May 2023
Retail trade rose a seasonally adjusted 0.7% in May, which was a large upside surprise to the market participants who had expected just a 0.1% uptick. The upside surprise was mainly due to a 2.2% increase in ‘other retailing’ and a 1.4% pick-up in cafes, restaurants and takeaway food. The annual rate of growth continued to normalise, slowing to 4.2% from the upwardly revised 4.3% in April.
- 26 May 2023 Retail Trade April 2023
Retail trade was unchanged in April, which came against the market expectations of another 0.2% gain. The results were mixed across the industries. Western Australia again saw the strongest monthly gain (+1.0%) and recorded the second largest annual increase of all the states (+6.3%).
- 09 May 2023 Retail Trade Q1 2023
Retail sales volumes declined a seasonally adjusted 0.6% in Q1, more than the 0.4% expected by the markets. The implicit retail sales deflator rose by 0.6%, which is close to the series average.
- 03 May 2023 Retail Trade March 2023
Seasonally adjusted retail sales rose 0.4% in March, only slightly more than the 0.3% pencilled in by the consensus. The increases were confined to food-related industries, with households reducing spending on discretionary goods. While food-related industries appear to be faring relatively well in nominal terms, this likely in part reflects a rise in retail prices.
- 28 Mar 2023 Retail Trade February 2023
Retail sales ticked up by 0.2% in February, in line with the market expectations, taking the annual growth rate down to 6.4%, which is the lowest level since December 2021. Western Australia saw the strongest gains of 0.8% MoM and 8.8% YoY. The monthly retail sales figures are nominal, which means they reflect both changes in prices and volumes.
- 28 Feb 2023 Retail Trade January 2023
Seasonally adjusted retail sales jumped 1.9% in January (mkt exp 1.2%), following a revised 4.0% drop in December (originally -3.9%). The rebound in January maintained the increase in monthly sales volatility that began with a Black Friday sales-related increase of 1.7% in November. The annual growth rate edged up 0.1ppts to 7.5%.
- 06 Feb 2023 Retail Trade - Q4 2022
Retail sales volumes ebbed a seasonally adjusted 0.2% in Q4, less than the 0.5% fall expected by the markets. The implicit retail sales deflator rose by 1.1%, which was significantly less than the 2.1% registered in the previous two quarters.