Australian retail turnover rises 0.3% in March

Australia’s retail turnover rose by 0.3 per cent month-on-month (MoM) in March 2025, according to seasonally adjusted data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), marking a third consecutive month of growth. This follows increases of 0.2 per cent in February and 0.4 per cent in January.

Year-on-year (YoY), retail turnover rose by 4.3 per cent. However, retail volumes were flat for the March quarter, and per capita retail volumes fell 0.4 per cent—continuing a long-term trend of weakening consumer activity on a per person basis.

“Retail sales volumes were flat this quarter and reflected subdued spending. This comes after sustained promotional activity boosted discretionary spending in late 2024. Underlying per capita retail spending was flat in trend terms. This indicates that despite population growth, consumer spending remains restrained,” said Robert Ewing, ABS head of business statistics.

Clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing edged up 0.3 per cent in March. Within this category, footwear and other personal accessory retailing rose 0.6 per cent ($5.6 million), while clothing retailing increased by 0.1 per cent ($2.5 million), ABS said in a release.

In contrast, department store sales dropped by 0.5 per cent ($9.1 million). Household goods retailing remained flat overall, though furniture and homewares fell by 0.2 per cent ($3.0 million).

Online retailing continued to outperform, with seasonally adjusted sales reaching $4.52 billion, up 0.6 per cent from February and 13.0 per cent YoY.

All states and territories recorded gains except Queensland, which fell 0.4 per cent due to the disruptive impact of Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

“The extreme weather early in the month led to significant disruptions for businesses and households throughout Queensland,” Ewing said.

Retail volumes per capita have now declined 5.9 per cent since peaking in June 2022, although they remain 3.2 per cent above pre-pandemic levels.

ALCHEMPro News Desk (HU)