SA April retail trade sales up 1.8%

Retail trade sales measured in constant (2012) prices came out better than expected‚ increasing by 1.8% year on year (y/y) in April after increasing by a revised 0.8% (1.0%) y/y in March‚ figures from Statistics South Africa showed on Wednesday, 18 June 2013.

Retail trade sales were expected to have increased by 1.6% y/y in April‚ according to a BDpro survey of economists. Forecasts among the 11 economists ranged from -1.2% to 3.3%.

Measured in real terms‚ seasonally adjusted retail trade sales were flat in April following month-on-month changes of -1.1% in March and 0.4% in February.

Seasonally adjusted retail trade sales decreased by 0.8% in the three months ended April compared with the previous three months and were up 1.6% in the three months ended April 2014 compared with the three months ended April 2013.