Continued cost of living pressures drag March retail sales: ABS
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The news: Australian retail turnover fell 0.4%, seasonally adjusted, in March 2024, new figures by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) show.
The numbers: The fall in March follows consecutive rises of 0.2% in February and 1% in January.
ABS said that underlying retail turnover has been flat for the past six months, and was up just 0.8% compared to March 2023.
Turnover fell in all industries this month, except for food retailing which grew 0.9%, underscoring the continued underlying weakness in retail spending.
The largest falls were recorded in clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (-4.3%) and department stores (-1.6%). Both industries recorded large rises last month that have now been mostly cancelled out by these falls.
Household goods retailing (-1.4%), other retailing (-0.3%) and cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services (-0.2%) also recorded falls.
Retail turnover growth was mixed across the country, with NSW (-1.1%) and Victoria (-0.8%) recording the largest falls and driving the overall fall this month after recording rises in February.
The context: ABS said consumers pulled back on retail spending in March as cost of living pressures remained high.
Outside of the pandemic period and introduction of the GST, the March quarter saw the weakest growth on record when comparing turnover to the same time in the previous year.
What they said: ABS head of retail statistics Ben Dorber said: “Retailers told us that overall trading conditions remain challenging with consumers being cautious in their discretionary spending.
“Consumers continue to experience cost of living pressures with price rises in education, healthcare, housing and insurance," he said.
The source: ABS media release
