SA April retail trade sales up 3.4% y/y vs 2.5% y/y rise in March
Retail trade sales measured in real terms (constant 2012 prices) increased by 3.4% year on year in April from a 2.5% rise in March, Statistics SA data showed on Wednesday.
Expectations were for retail sales to have increased by 2.1% y/y in April.
The main contributors to the 3.4% increase were general dealers, contributing 1.3 percentage points, and retailers in textiles, clothing, footwear and leather goods, which contributed 0.7 of a percentage point.
Seasonally adjusted retail trade sales increased by 0.2% month on month in April 2015. This followed month-on-month changes of -0.4% in March 2015 and 1.6% in February 2015.
Seasonally adjusted retail trade sales increased by 1.3% in the three months ended April 2015 compared with the previous three months.
Retail trade sales increased 3.2% in the three months ended April 2015 compared with the three months ended April 2014, with the main contributors being general dealers and retailers in hardware, paint and glass.