South African retails sales grew at a sluggish 0.2% in September compared with the same month last year, after expanding by a revised 3.2% in August. (Gallo)
South African retails sales grew at a sluggish 0.2% in September compared with the same month last year, after expanding by a revised 3.2% in August, Statistics South Africa said on Wednesday.
Economists were expecting sales growth of 2.5%.
Chief economist at Stanlib Kevin Lings said this is the lowest annual rate of growth in retail sales since the recession ended in 2009.
Lings said retail sales growth was "well below the growth rates achieved during most of 2012, but at least still slightly above recession conditions. Clearly the South African consumer is under increasing strain as we head towards the Christmas season.
"The annual rate of change in South African retail sales has been extremely volatile in recent months," he said on Wednesday. "While this volatility is partly due to base effects that reflect the distortion created by the timing of public holidays and labour market disruptions, the extreme volatility suggests that data collection is proving erratic. Hence, retail sales should be analysed on a trend basis, rather than placing a huge amount of emphasis on any specific monthly sales report."
He said on a trend basis consumer spending has been losing momentum for some time and is expected to remain under pressure over the coming months. "This largely reflects a moderation in income growth, a sharp slowdown in the growth of unsecured credit, a lack of job creation, falling consumer confidence, and a rise in the cost of living, including the cost of petrol [which is not part of the retail sales data], electricity and education," he said.