Retail sales in Colombia increased 8.2 percent from a year earlier in May 2019, following a 4 percent rise in the previous month. It was the biggest gain in retail trade in six months. In May, 15 out of 16 product segments recorded increases including food & non-alcoholic beverages (9 percent); vehicles & motorcycles (15.5 percent); electronic products and telecommunications for personal or domestic use (10.4 percent); fuels for vehicles (3.6 percent); spare parts, parts, accessories & lubricants for vehicles (6.2 percent); personal care products, cosmetics & perfumery (9 percent); home appliances & furnishings (9.5 percent); clothing & textiles (4.4 percent); cleaning products for domestic use (10.6 percent); other goods for personal or domestic use (9.8 percent); and footwear & leather products (13.4 percent). On a monthly basis, retail sales advanced 8.1 percent, rebounding from a downwardly revised 5.2 percent fall in April. Retail Sales YoY in Colombia averaged 5.11 percent from 2000 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 23.37 percent in April of 2011 and a record low of -7.59 percent in September of 2009.
Retail Sales YoY in Colombia is expected to be 4.40 percent by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Retail Sales YoY in Colombia to stand at 4.00 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the Colombia Retail Sales YoY is projected to trend around 4.30 percent in 2020, according to our econometric models.