Taylor Swift concerts spark retail spending rise in Feb: ABS
Make us a preferred source
Make us a preferred source on Google
The news: Retail sales in Australia rose 0.3% in February 2024, new Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures show.
The numbers: The 0.3% rise followed a 1.1% increase in January, and a fall of 2.1% in December 2023.
ABS head of retail statistics Ben Dorber said that the seven sold-out Taylor Swift concerts in Sydney and Melbourne boosted retail activity in February, with over 600,000 attendees driving spending on clothing, merchandise, accessories and dining out.
Removing the impact of the Taylor Swift concerts, underlying growth in retail turnover only gained 0.1% in trend terms. Clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (4.2%) and department stores (2.3%) saw the largest industry rises in February, while cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services (0.5%) saw more modest gains.
Turnover fell in household goods retailing (0.8%), other retailing (-0.4%) and food retailing (-0.1%), reflecting weaker underlying retail spending.
Retail turnover rose in most states and territories, with Victoria (0.7%) and NSW (0.6%) seeing the largest rises, and Queensland recording the biggest fall (-0.5%).
The context: Dorber noted that underlying spending stagnated in February, following a period of higher volatility from November 2023 through to January.
Rises in Victoria and NSW were attributed to Taylor Swift concerts, with both states benefiting from the influx of visitors and increased spending from local concert-goers.
The source: ABS media release
