Australia witnesses 0.8% retail slump in June 2023: ABS

The data reveals that all non-food sectors experienced falls. Department stores recorded the sharpest decline at 5.0 per cent, with ‘other retailing’ and clothing, footwear, and personal accessory retailing sectors trailing closely behind at 2.2 per cent each, the ABS said in a press release.

Across the states and territories, retail turnover showed mixed results, with the eastern mainland states all recording substantial falls. The ABS has now reinstated retail trade trend estimates, which reveal a considerable slowdown in the underlying growth of retail spending from July 2022 onwards. Only modest trend growth has been observed in recent months.

The June 2023 seasonally adjusted estimate presents a 0.8 per cent month-on-month fall but a 2.3 per cent rise compared to June 2022. In terms of sector-specific performance, clothing, footwear, and personal accessory retailing faced a loss of $64.7 million in June, on a seasonally adjusted basis. Department stores reported a drop of $94.5 million in the same period.

Ben Dorber, ABS head of retail statistics, said: “Retail turnover fell sharply in June due to weaker than usual spending on end of financial year sales. This comes as cost-of-living pressures continued to weigh on consumer spending.

“There was extra discounting and promotional activity in May, leading up to mid-year sales events. This delivered a boost in turnover for retailers, but that proved to be temporary as consumers pulled back on spending in June.”

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (NB)