Australia’s retail sales rebound by 1.9% in January

This followed a 4% decline in December. 

Retail sales climbed by 1.9% in January, a rebound from the 4% fall recorded in December, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reported. 

“The rebound in retail turnover in January followed a substantial fall of 4% in December and a large rise of 1.7% in November,” ABS head of retail statistics Ben Dorber said.

“Looking through this volatility shows that turnover is at a similar level to September 2022, and on average, growth has been flat over the past few months.”

Read more: Australia’s retail sales slip nearly 4% in December

Dorber noted that retail was heavily affected by the Christmas period and January holidays as well as the popularity of the Black Friday sales. 

The ABS observed retail turnover increased across all industries, largely driven by non-food industries rebounding from large falls in December. 

Department stores recorded the largest rise (8.8%), followed by clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (6.5%), other retailing (2.9%) and household goods retailing (1.1%).

Cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services also grew (1.2%) to a new record high level following slowing growth in recent months; whilst food retailing had the smallest rise (0.3%).

"The continued return of large-scale sporting and cultural events in January, combined with high costs reflected in prices, has boosted sales in catering services which are part of the cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services industry,” Dorber said.