The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released its retail trade figures for September, reporting that the Clothing, footwear and personal accessories category experienced a 1.18% decline in monthly growth.
Department stores also experienced a 0.02% decline in September, with total sales across all retail sectors equalling 0.16% for the month.
However, the executive director of the Australian Retailers Association (ARA), Russell Zimmerman, responded to the release and said that despite the slow monthly growth, the year-on-year growth still paints a positive picture for retailers coming into Christmas.
“Although September’s month-on-month figure isn’t as positive as we would have liked, we need to understand the year-on-year retail growth figure represents a better overview of the current state of Australian retail.
“As fashion is usually seasonally driven, we saw the Clothing, footwear and personal accessories category slow down, receiving a 2.89% year-on-year growth, compared to the 4.05% year-on-year growth received in August.
“While this is slightly lower than the previous three months, clothing remains strong and the ARA are hopeful of seeing an uptick in apparel and accessories retailing in the lead-up to summer,” he said.
Geographically, Victoria led the charge in September posting 6.73% year-on-year growth, followed by Tasmania at 6.13%. The Northern Territory experienced a decline though, posting a -0.19% decrease in year-on-year growth for September.
To read the full ABS release, click here.