Australian retail turnover sees modest rise in April 2024

Clothing, footwear, and personal accessory retailing saw a significant drop of 0.7 per cent, amounting to a decrease of $19.5 million in seasonally adjusted terms. In contrast, most non-food related industries experienced growth in April.

Other retailing categories led the gains with a 1.6 per cent rise, followed by household goods retailing, which increased by 0.7 per cent, and department stores, which saw a modest rise of 0.1 per cent, as per ABS.

Retail turnover growth was also uneven across different regions of the country. New South Wales recorded the largest increase with a 0.7 per cent rise, while South Australia followed with a 0.5 per cent increase.

“Underlying retail spending continues to be weak with a small rise in turnover in April not enough to make up for a fall in March. Since the start of 2024, trend retail turnover has been flat as cautious consumers reduce their discretionary spending,” said Ben Dorber, ABS head of retail statistics.

ALCHEMPro News Desk (DP)