Retails sales see more than expected uptick, Stats SA

Retail trade sales improved more than expected, increasing by 2.9% year-on-year in October.

This, after sales increased by 3.1% year-on-year in September.

Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) released the latest data on Wednesday.

It said the largest drivers of growth include retailers in textiles, clothing, footwear and leather goods and retailers in household furniture, appliances and equipment.

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The deputy director for distributive trade statistics at Stats SA, Raquel Floris, explained: “Textiles and clothing increased by 5.8 % and the miscellaneous category, which includes online stores and retailer specialising in jewellery, stationery and sports goods, rose by 7.2%. Together, both added 1.7 percentage points to overall growth.”

On the downside, Floris said food and beverages was the only retail group that contracted in October, registering a decline of 2.8%.

“On a month-on-month basis, seasonally adjusted retail trade sales increased by 0.9 % in October compared with September. This followed month-on-month declines of 0.1 % in September and 1.6 % in August.”