Retail trade sales came in better than expected in December, increasing by 4.1% compared with a year ago after rising by 3.8% in November, Statistics SA data showed on Wednesday.
The 4.1% was the quickest pace of acceleration since January 2014 when sales rose 4.9% year on year.
Retail trade sales increased by 3.3% last year compared with 2014, due to higher sales by general dealers; and retailers in textiles, clothing, footwear and leather goods. This was an improvement from 2014's 2.1% increase and 2013's 2.7% increase.
The latest data show that retail sales will have supported economic growth last year.
Higher sales by general dealers; and retailers in textiles, clothing, footwear and leather goods were also the main reasons behind the 4.1% year-on-year increase in retail sales.
Consumers have tended to reduce spending on big-ticket items during tough economic times and instead maintain spending on small-ticket items such as clothes.
Seasonally adjusted retail trade sales decreased by 0.9% month on month in December 2015 following month-on-month changes of 2.4% in November and 0.4% in October. Monthly data are highly volatile.
In the fourth quarter of 2015, seasonally adjusted retail trade sales increased by 1.3% compared with the previous quarter.
Retail trade sales increased by 3.8% in the fourth quarter of 2015 compared with the fourth quarter of 2014.
