The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released seasonally adjusted figures indicating a 0.2% increase in retail turnover in February 2025.
This modest rise follows a 0.3% uplift in January and contrasts with the 0.2% decrease seen in December 2024.
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ABS business statistics head Robert Ewing stated: “Retail spending in February remains steady, with mixed results across the industries. Like the January month, it was food-related spending which drove the rise in retail turnover this month.’
Food retailing experienced a 0.6% surge, propelled by equivalent growth in supermarket and grocery stores, a 0.8% increase in other specialised food retailing sectors and 0.2% for liquor retailing.
Cafés, restaurants and takeaway food services also saw a marginal increase of 0.2% – their second consecutive month of growth.
Results varied across non-food industries with turnover in clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing collectively rising 0.4%.
Clothing retailing alone grew by 0.8% but footwear and other personal accessory retailing saw a 0.3% decline.
Household goods retailing continued its downward trajectory for the second month in a row, falling 0.3%.
Department stores experienced a notable boost with a 1.5% increase in turnover, while other retailing sectors faced a 1% decline after the largest rise in January at 2.4%.
Ewing added: “Following promotion-based growth across the December quarter, spending on household goods continued to moderate with lower discretionary spending to begin the year.”
Total online retail sales in Australia reached A$4.5bn in February, with seasonally adjusted figures showing a 1.7% rise. This follows a more modest increase of 0.4% in January.
Original online sales dropped significantly by 9.1%, compared to a steeper fall of 9.5% in original total sales.
Most states and territories reported an uptick in retail turnover, with Western Australia leading at 0.8%, its seventh consecutive monthly rise and New South Wales following closely with a 0.5% gain.
