South African retail sales decline 1.6% in March

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Stats SA reports that South African retail trade sales decreased by 1.6% year-on-year in March 2023.

The largest negative contributors to this decrease were: general dealers (-1.9% and contributing -0.9 of a percentage point); and retailers in food, beverages and tobacco in specialised stores (-6.6% and contributing -0.6 of a percentage point).

The positive contributor was retailers in textiles, clothing, footwear and leather goods (6.3% and contributing 1.0 percentage point).

Seasonally adjusted retail trade sales decreased by 0.7% in March 2023 compared with February 2023. This followed month-on-month changes of -0.3% in February 2023 and 1.4% in January 2023.

Retail trade sales decreased by 1.0% in the first quarter of 2023 compared with the first quarter of 2022. The largest negative contributors to this decrease were: retailers in hardware, paint and glass (-5.7% and contributing -0.5 of a percentage point); general dealers (-1.0% and contributing -0.4 of a percentage point); and retailers in food, beverages and tobacco in specialised stores (-4.8% and contributing -0.4 of a percentage point).

The positive contributor was retailers in textiles, clothing, footwear and leather goods (4.7% and contributing 0.8 of a percentage point).

Seasonally adjusted retail trade sales increased by 0.8% in the first quarter of 2023 compared with the fourth quarter of 2022. The main contributor to this increase was retailers in textiles, clothing, footwear and leather goods (4.4% and contributing 0.8 of a percentage point).