Retail sales drop 1.4% for May

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Mongezi Mtati

Retail trade sales showed a 1.4% decrease year-on-year in May 2023, Stats SA reported Wednesday, 19 July.

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The largest negative contributors to this decrease were general dealers (-3.7% and contributing -1.6 percentage points); and retailers in hardware, paint and glass (-8.7% and contributing -0.7 of a percentage point).

Seasonally adjusted retail trade sales decreased by 0.7% in May 2023 compared with April 2023. This followed month-on-month changes of 0.2% in April 2023 and -0.7% in March 2023.

Retail trade sales decreased by 1.5% in the three months ended May 2023 compared with the three months ended May 2022. The largest negative contributors to this decrease were general dealers (-2.7% and contributing -1.2 percentage points); and retailers in food, beverages and tobacco in specialised stores (-5.5% and contributing -0.5 of a percentage point).

Retailers in textiles, clothing, footwear and leather goods was the only positive contributor (6.0% and contributing 1.0 percentage point).

Seasonally adjusted retail trade sales decreased by 0.7% in the three months ended May 2023 compared with the previous three months. The largest negative contributors were general dealers (-0.6% and contributing -0.3 of a percentage point); retailers in food, beverages and tobacco in specialised stores (-2.9% and contributing -0.2 of a percentage point); and all ‘other’ retailers (-2.0% and contributing -0.2 of a percentage point).