South Africa's retail sales dropped 0.4 percent year-on-year in December 2019, following a 2.6 percent rise in November and against market estimates of a 1.5 percent rise. It was the first decline in retail trade since December 2018, led by general dealers (-0.8 percent vs 3.4 percent in November); hardware, paint and glass (-3.7 percent vs -1.1 percent); all other retailers (-1.7 percent vs 1.2 percent) and textiles, clothing, footwear & leather goods (-0.4 percent vs 2.4 percent). Also, sales of food, beverages & tobacco rose much less (1.1 percent vs 6.7 percent). In contrast, increases were reported for household furniture, appliances & equipment (3.5 percent vs 3.2 percent) and pharmaceuticals, medical goods, cosmetics (2.7 percent vs -1.7 percent). On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, retail sales slumped 3.1 percent, after a downwardly revised 2 percent increase in the previous month. In 2019 as a whole, retail sales grew 1.2 percent over a year ago.

Retail Sales YoY in South Africa averaged 4.32 percent from 2003 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 15.50 percent in September of 2006 and a record low of -6.30 percent in April of 2009. This page provides - South Africa Retail Sales YoY - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news. source: Statistics South Africa

Retail Sales YoY in South Africa is expected to be 0.30 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 South Africa to stand at 0.60 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the South Africa Retail Sales YoY is projected to trend around 2.10 percent in 2021, according to our econometric models.


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South Africa Retail Sales YoY

Actual Previous Highest Lowest Dates Unit Frequency
-0.40 2.60 15.50 -6.30 2003 - 2019 percent Monthly
Constant Prices 2015


Calendar GMT Actual Previous Consensus TEForecast
2019-11-13 11:00 AM Sep 0.2% 1.0% 1.9% 2%
2019-12-11 11:00 AM Oct 0.3% 0.4% 0.6% 2%
2020-01-15 11:00 AM Nov 2.6% 0.4% 1.5% 3.4%
2020-02-12 11:00 AM Dec -0.4% 2.6% 1.5% 0.7%
2020-03-18 11:00 AM Jan -0.4% 1.2%
2020-04-15 11:00 AM Feb 1.0%
2020-05-13 11:00 AM Mar 0.3%
2020-06-17 11:00 AM Apr
Go to our Calendar for more events. Or learn more about the Calendar API for direct access.


News Stream
South Africa December Retail Trade Unexpectedly Shrinks
South Africa's retail sales dropped 0.4 percent year-on-year in December 2019, following a 2.6 percent rise in November and against market estimates of a 1.5 percent rise. It was the first decline in retail trade since December 2018, led by general dealers (-0.8 percent vs 3.4 percent in November); hardware, paint and glass (-3.7 percent vs -1.1 percent); all other retailers (-1.7 percent vs 1.2 percent) and textiles, clothing, footwear & leather goods (-0.4 percent vs 2.4 percent). Also, sales of food, beverages & tobacco rose much less (1.1 percent vs 6.7 percent). In contrast, increases were reported for household furniture, appliances & equipment (3.5 percent vs 3.2 percent) and pharmaceuticals, medical goods, cosmetics (2.7 percent vs -1.7 percent). On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, retail sales slumped 3.1 percent, after a downwardly revised 2 percent increase in the previous month. In 2019 as a whole, retail sales grew 1.2 percent over a year ago.
2020-02-12
South Africa Retail Trade Grows the Most in 7 Months
South Africa's retail sales rose 2.6 percent year-on-year in November 2019, following an upwardly revised 0.4 percent increase in October and beating market expectations of a 1.5 percent gain. It was the strongest rise in retail activity since April, likely influenced by Black Friday discounts. Higher sales were recorded mostly for food, beverages & tobacco (6.2 percent vs 4.8 percent in October); general dealers (3.2 percent vs 0.7 percent); household furniture, appliances and equipment (3.2 percent vs 3.0 percent) and textiles, clothing, footwear & leather goods (2.7 percent vs -0.6 percent). Conversely, pharmaceuticals and medical goods, cosmetics & toiletries was the only category posting a decrease (-1.9 percent vs -0.6 percent). On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, retail sales advanced 3.1 percent, after a revised 0.1 percent gain in the previous month.
2020-01-15
South Africa Retail Sales Growth at 7-Month Low
South Africa's retail sales increased 0.3 percent year-on-year in October 2019, following an upwardly revised 0.4 percent rise in the previous month and missing market expectations of a 0.6 percent gain. It was the slowest rise in retail activity since March, as sales advanced much less for all other retailers (0.2 percent vs 1.6 percent in September) while declined for pharmaceuticals and medical goods, cosmetics & toiletries (-0.6 percent vs 0.8 percent); textiles, clothing, footwear & leather goods (-0.6 percent vs 2.9 percent) and hardware, paint & glass (-2.5 percent vs 0.3 percent). In contrast, main gains were recorded for food, beverages & tobacco (4.5 percent vs -1.9 percent); household furniture, appliances & equipment (3.2 percent vs 1.6 percent) and general dealers (0.4 percent vs -0.6 percent). On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, retail sales went down 0.2 percent, after an upwardly revised 0.6 percent rise in the previous month.
2019-12-11
South Africa Retail Trade Growth at 9-Month Low
South Africa's retail sales increased 0.2 percent year-on-year in September 2019, easing significantly from a downwardly revised 1.0 percent rise and missing market expectations of a 1.9 percent gain. It was the smallest increase in retail trade since last December, led by household furniture, appliances & equipment (0.1 percent vs 4.4 percent in August) and all other retailers (1.3 percent vs 3.6 percent). In addition, sales declined for food, beverages and tobacco (-2.3 percent vs 1.5 percent) and general dealers (-0.7 percent vs 0.4 percent). Conversely, those of textiles, clothing, footwear & leather goods (3 percent vs 0.9 percent) and pharmaceuticals and medical goods, cosmetics & toiletries (0.8 percent vs 0.6 percent) advanced faster. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, retail trade went up 0.5 percent, recovering from an upwardly revised 1.1 percent decline in the prior month.
2019-11-13

South Africa Retail Sales YoY
In South Africa, the year-over-year change in Retail sales compares the aggregated sales of retail goods and services during a certain month to the same month a year ago.