Retail sales fall year on year in February

(c) Anna Phillips - 123RF.com

This marked the second month of declining retail sales after January's 2.3% decline on the same month in 2016, Statistics SA reported on Wednesday.

Though lower year on year, February's sales were 0.8% higher than January's R58.17bn.

Statistics SA uses constant prices set to 2012 to account for inflation. At current prices, February's total retail sales amounted to R73.73bn.

The drop in sales was across the sector. Retailers in textiles, clothing, footwear and leather goods recorded a 7.6% drop in sales while retailers in household furniture, appliances and equipment noted 6.5% drop in sales.

In the three months ended February, seasonally adjusted retail trade sales decreased 1.3% to R255.5bn compared with the previous three months, and 0.7% compared to the same period the year before. The main contributor to this decrease was general dealers, which contributed 0.9 of a percentage point.