Australia’s retail sales inch up in August

Retail sales rose 0.6% during the month.

Retail turnover in Australia rose for the eighth consecutive month after it inched up 0.6% in August, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reported. 

This followed a 1.3% sales growth seen in July and 0.2% in June 2022. 

“This month’s rise was driven by the combined increase in food related industries, with cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services up 1.3% and food retailing up 1.1%,” Ben Dorber, head of retail statistics at the ABS, said. 

“While households continue to spend, non-food industry results were mixed and only contributed a small amount to the total rise in retail turnover.”

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The ABS reported that department stores sales rose by 2.8%, a new record level; whilst household goods saw a 2.6% growth. 

Meanwhile, other retailing went down 2.5%, the first time in five months. This is also the largest drop in the segment during the year. 

Clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing also declined to 2.3% in August after two months of consecutive increases.