South African retail trade sales recorded an eighth consecutive month of year-on-year decline in July, contracting 1.8%. (Dwayne Senior/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
South African retail trade sales recorded an eighth consecutive month of year-on-year decline in July, contracting 1.8%, Statistics South Africa data showed on Wednesday.
“Five of the seven retailer groups recorded a decline in sales with general dealers and hardware stores the largest drags on growth,” said Raquel Floris, the deputy director for distributive trade statistics at StatsSA.
General dealers recorded a year-on-year decline of 4.1% while retailers in hardware, paint and glass registered a drop of 6.8%. On the upside, textiles and clothing sales grew by 6.8% year-on-year.
On a month-on-month basis seasonally adjusted retail trade sales remained unchanged in July compared with June. But sales decreased by 2.2% in the three months ended July 2023 compared with the same quarter a year ago.
Economists from the Bureau for Economic Research had expected retail sales to contract by 1% on a year-on-year basis, while Nedbank’s economists forecast a contraction of 1.4% in July after the June contraction of 0.9%.
“The poor growth reflects the impact of higher interest rates, still elevated food inflation, and depressed consumer confidence forcing consumers to be cautious about spending,” said Nedbank economist Isaac Matshego.