Australia Retail Sales MoM1982-2020 Data | 2021-2022 Forecast | Calendar

Retail sales in Australia dropped 1.5 percent month-over-month in September 2020, after a 4 percent fall in the previous month. It was the second consecutive decline in retail sales, with the most populous state of New South Wales leading the falls, a preliminary reading showed. Every state and territory, except the Northern Territory, fell this month. Victoria recorded a minor decline in September following a drop of 12.6 percent in August when the Stage-4 restrictions in Melbourne, and Stage-3 restrictions in regional Victoria were introduced. There were decreases in food retailing, household goods retailing, and other retailing.

Retail sales in Australia fell by 4 percent month-over-month in August 2020, after a 3.2 percent rise in in the previous month and compared with market expectations of a 4.2 percent drop. This marked the first decline in retail trade since April, with the virus-stricken state of Victoria bearing the brunt of the downturn. Sales decreased for all categories: clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (-10.5 percent vs 7.1 percent in July); department stores (-8.9 percent vs 4 percent); household goods retailing (-6 percent vs 4 percent); other retailing (-5.1 percent vs 4.4 percent); cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services (-6.6 percent vs 4.9 percent); and food retailing (-0.2 percent vs 1.2 percent). Through the year to August 2020, retail sales rose by 7.1 percent.

Retail sales in Australia dropped 4.2 percent month-over-month in August 2020, the first decline since April, after a 3.2 percent rise in the previous month, mainly due to the coronavirus-stricken state of Victoria bearing the brunt of the downturn, a preliminary reading showed. There were large decreases in clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing, department stores, and cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services, also saw large monthly falls, with the largest falls recorded in Victoria. New South Wales saw a large fall in cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services. Meantime, food retailing saw a small fall, with mixed results amongst the states and territories. All industries fell, primarily driven by the Victorian result, although there were drops in most states and territories. Turnover in household goods retailing led the declines, although sales in this industry remain 20 percent above the levels of August 2019.

Retail sales in Australia rose by 3.2 percent month-over-month in July 2020, compared with a preliminary figure of a 3.3 percent gain and after a 2.7 percent rise in a month earlier. This was the third straight month of increase in retail trade, as the economy continued to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 crisis. Household goods (4 percent vs -3.2 percent in June) led the monthly rises, as consumers continued to purchase large items for homes. Also, there were rises in other retailing (4.4 percent vs 0.3 percent), food (1.2 percent vs 0.9 percent), clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (7.1 percent vs 20.5 percent), department stores (4 percent vs -12.1 percent), and cafes, restaurants, and takeaway food services (4.9 percent vs 27.9 percent).