Australian Bureau Of Statistics

Retail Turnover Rises 0.4 % In November

Victor P Taffa

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

This follows a rise of 0.3 % in October 2018.

“Household goods retailing (1.2 %) led the rises.” Acting Director of Quarterly Economy Wide Surveys Ben Faulkner said.

“While there was also a notable rise for Clothing, footwear and personal accessories retailing (1.5 %). Both of these industries were impacted by strong promotional activity in the November month, including Black Friday sales.”

Rises

Rises were also seen in:

• Food retailing (0.2 %),
• Department stores (0.4 %).

Minor falls

Minor falls were also seen in:

• Other retailing (-0.1 %),
• Cafes, restaurant and takeaway services retailing (-0.1 %).

Online retail turnover

Online retail turnover contributed 6.6 % to total retail turnover in original terms in November 2018, a rise from 5.9 % in October 2018.

This is the highest level recorded in the series and continues a pattern of increasing online contributions to total sales in November. In November 2017 online retail turnover contributed 5.5 % to total retail.

Seasonally adjusted terms

In seasonally adjusted terms there were rises in:

• New South Wales (0.8 %),
• Queensland (0.4 %),
• Western Australia (0.6 %),
• Australian Capital Territory (1.6 %),
• Victoria (0.1 %).

South Australia was relatively unchanged (0.0 %).

There were falls in:

• Northern Territory (-0.9 %),
• Tasmania (-0.2 %).

Trend estimate for Australian retail turnover rose 0.2 % in November 2018, following a 0.2 % rise in October 2018. Compared to November 2017, the trend estimate rose 3.6 %.