Retail sales in Australia have increased by 0.9% in September 2023 seasonally adjusted, as per data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

The data revealed that sales rose by 2.0% compared with September 2022.

During the month, sales in household goods retailing rose by 1.5% in seasonally adjusted terms.

Clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing reported sales growth of 0.3% in September, in seasonally adjusted terms.

Sales in department stores increased by 1.7% in seasonally adjusted terms during the month.

Food retailing registered a 1.0% growth after falling for two consecutive months while sales for other retailing sectors grew by 1.3% to $70.2m in seasonally adjusted terms.

ABS retail statistics head Ben Dorber said: "The strong rise in September came from a diverse range of factors across the Retail industry.

“The warmer-than-usual start to spring lifted turnover at departments stores, household goods and clothing retailers, with more spending on hardware, gardening and clothing items. Also adding a boost to turnover in household goods retailing was the release of a new iPhone model and the introduction of the Climate Smart Energy Savers Rebate programme in Queensland.

“While the rise in September was the largest since January, subdued spending for most of 2023 means that underlying growth in Retail turnover remains historically low. Retail turnover in trend terms is up only 1.5% compared to September 2022 - the smallest trend growth over 12 months in the history of the series.”

Recently, the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) from ABS showed that inflation rose by 1.2% this quarter 5.4% in the September 2023 quarter.

Dorber added: “To see the full effect of changing consumer prices on recent retail turnover growth, it will be important to look at quarterly retail sales volumes, which we release next week.”