South African retail trade sales at constant (2008) prices for July were recorded at -3,9% year-on-year (y/y) from a revised -6,9% (-6,7%) in June, figures released on Monday by Statistics South Africa show.
Retail trade sales, at constant (2008) prices, for the three months ended July 2009 reflected a decrease of 5,1% compared with the three months ended July 2008, while sales for the corresponding period in 2008 decreased by 0,3%.
The major contributors to the decrease of 5,1% were retailers in hardware, paint and glass (-18,2% and contributing -1,6 percentage points), general dealers (-3,9% and contributing -1,5 percentage points) and all other retailers (-9,0% and contributing -1,2 percentage points).
Retail trade sales, at current prices, for the three months ended July 2009 increased by 5,7% compared with the three months ended July 2008. The major contributors to this increase were general dealers (8,5% and contributing 3,2 percentage points) and retailers of food, beverages and tobacco in specialised stores (11,9% and contributing 1,2 percentage points).
Retail trade sales, at current prices, for July 2009 increased by 6,7% compared with July 2008, while sales for the corresponding period in 2008 increased by 11,4%.
Retail sales growth has been expected by analysts to improve gradually this year due to a combination of interest rate cuts in line with declining inflation and fears of slowing domestic growth, an increase in real wage growth, as well as some tax relief.
A new methodology changes the total 2008 sales at constant prices to an increase of 0,1% from a previous decrease of -2,2% at 2000 prices and the previous nine negative months now revert to five. The best was a revised 5,1% (2,9%) in February 2008 and the worst -2,5% in May 2008. The worst at 2000 prices was -5,6% in both August and September 2008.
Growth in 2007 is at 6,5% from 5,1% at 2000 prices and 11,9% in 2006 from 9,6% before. The decline in 2008 at 2000 prices had marked the first annual decrease in nine years.
A new total of R507,114-billion (R301,899-billion at constant 2000 prices) was recorded at constant 2008 prices in 2008 from the R506,483-billion (R308,578-billion) recorded in 2007. — I-Net Bridge