Australian Bureau Of Statistics

Retail Turnover Falls 0.4 % In December

Victor P Taffa

Australian retail turnover fell 0.4 % in December 2018, seasonally adjusted, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Retail Trade figures.

This follows a 0.5 % rise in November 2018.

“Household goods (-2.8 %) and Clothing and footwear (-2.4 %) led the falls after strong rises in November from Black Friday promotions.” Director of Quarterly Economy Wide Surveys Ben James said.

“There were also falls in Department stores (-1.1 %) and Other retailing (-0.1 %).”

Falls were partially offset by rises in:

• Food retailing (0.5 %),
• Cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services (1.1 %).

In seasonally adjusted terms, there were falls in:

• New South Wales (-0.6 %),
• Victoria (-0.5 %),
• Australian Capital Territory (-1.8 %),
• Queensland (-0.1 %),
• South Australia (-0.3 %),
• Northern Territory (-0.3),
• Tasmania (-0.2 %.).

Only state to have a rise in December 2018 was Western Australia (0.1 %).

Online retail turnover contributed 5.6 % to total retail turnover in original terms in December 2018, down from 6.6 % in November 2018, highlighting the increasing importance of the November month for online sales.

In December 2017 online retail turnover contributed 4.8 % to total retail.

Trend estimate for Australian retail turnover rose 0.2 % in December 2018, following a rise of 0.2 % in November 2018. Compared to December 2017, the trend estimate rose 3.2 %.

For the December quarter 2018, there was a 0.1 % rise in seasonally adjusted volume terms.

This follows a rise of 0.2 % in the September quarter 2018.

Quarterly rise in volumes was led by:

• Clothing and footwear (2.7 %),
• Department stores (0.7 %).

Falls in seasonally adjusted volume terms occurred in:

• Food retailing (-0.2 %),
• Other retailing (-0.5 %),
• Cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services (-0.5 %),
• Household goods (-0.3 %).