Australian retail sector sees uptick led by clothing & footwear in Feb

Department stores also saw a healthy increase, with sales rising 2.3 per cent or by $43.7 million in the same period, as per ABS.

Geographically, retail turnover improvements were observed across most Australian jurisdictions. Victoria and New South Wales led the charge with increases of 0.7 per cent and 0.6 per cent respectively. Meanwhile, Queensland recorded a downturn, with retail sales dropping by 0.5 per cent, marking it as the jurisdiction with the largest fall in the reported month.

"Seven sold-out Taylor Swift concerts in Sydney and Melbourne boosted retail spending this month, with over 600,000 Swifties flocking to these events. This led to increased spending on clothing, merchandise and accessories,” said Ben Dorber, ABS head of retail statistics.

ALCHEMPro News Desk (DP)