'South Africa’s retailers provide a perfect example of understanding how firms can entrench their market power to the detriment of overall development
The latest retail sales, released by Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) on Thursday show January sales grew by 3.1% in comparison to the same period last year.
“The data suggests that there is a recovery underway in the household consumption of durable and semi-durable goods which have struggled under the low growth environment”, said First National Bank (FNB) senior economist Jason Muscat in a note.
Growth was seen across all retail categories with the largest seen in household furniture, appliances and equipment sitting at 9.2%. Textiles, clothing and footwear continued a strong performance showing 6.5% in growth.
While pharmaceuticals recorded growth of 3.7%, general sales softened to 1.1% and food and beverages went up by 3.7%.
“We believe sales will continue to perform at these levels through 2018 as credit growth picks up”, said FNB’s Muscat.
However January sales contracted by 1.6% in comparison to December and seasonally adjusted.
StatsSA Preliminary report: Retail Sales by Kiri Rupiah on Scribd