Australian Bureau Of Statistics

Retail Turnover Rises 0.4 % In March

Victor P Taffa

Australian retail turnover rose 0.4 % in March 2016, seasonally adjusted, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Retail Trade figures.

This follows a rise of 0.1 % in February 2016.

In seasonally adjusted terms, there were rises in

• Food retailing (0.6 %),
• Clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (1.1 %),
• Other retailing (0.4 %),
• Household goods retailing (0.1 %).

Turnover in cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services was relatively unchanged (0.0 %). Department stores fell (-0.5 %) in March 2016.

In seasonally adjusted terms there were rises in

• Victoria (0.5 %),
• New South Wales (0.4 %),
• Western Australia (0.7 %),
• Queensland (0.2 %),
• South Australia (0.2 %),
• Tasmania (0.6 %).

There were falls in

• Australian Capital Territory (-0.6 %),
• Northern Territory (-0.2 %).

The trend estimate for Australian retail turnover rose 0.2 % in March 2016 following a 0.2 % rise in February 2016. Compared to March 2015 the trend estimate rose 3.6 %.

Online retail turnover contributed 3.1 % to total retail turnover in original terms.

In seasonally adjusted volume terms, turnover rose 0.5 % in the March quarter 2016, following a rise of 0.6 % in the December quarter 2015.

The largest contributor to the rise was clothing, footwear and personal accessories retailing, which rose 3.5 % in seasonally adjusted volume terms in the March quarter 2016.