Global Courant 2023-05-18 13:15:11
Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) says retail sales fell 1.6% year on year in March 2013.
Stats SA’s information is based on a monthly survey, using a sample from Stats SA’s 2022 Business Sampling Frame (BSF), which includes companies registered for Value Added Tax (VAT).
The main contributors to the decline were general dealers (-1.9% and contribution -0.9 percentage point) and food, beverage and tobacco retailers in specialized stores (-6.6% and contribution -0.6 percentage point).
However, retailers of textiles, clothing, shoes and leather goods made a positive contribution (6.3% and a contribution of 1.0 percentage point).
Retail sales for the three months ended March 2023 are below:
Seasonally adjusted retail sales fell 0.7% in March from -0.7% in February – revised down from -0.5%.
The drop follows a 0.3% drop in February and a 1.4% drop in January 2023.
Retail sales fell 1.0% in Q1 2023 compared to Q1 2022.
The largest contributors to the decline were retailers of hardware, paint and glass (-5.7% and contributed -0.5 percentage point), general dealers (-1.0% and contributed -0.4 percentage point); and food, beverage and tobacco retailers in specialized stores (-4.8% and a contribution of -0.4 percentage point).
However, retailers of textiles, clothing, shoes and leather goods again made a positive contribution to the total (4.7% and a contribution of 0.8 percentage point).
Retail sales for the three months ended March 2023 are below:
That said, seasonally adjusted retail sales in the first quarter of 2023 are up 0.8% compared to the fourth quarter of 2022.
Retailers of textiles, clothing, shoes and leather goods made the positive contribution (4.4% and contributed 0.8 percentage point).
Below is seasonally adjusted retail sales for the last quarter:
Against comment
The retail stats are in stark contrast to the data and commentary from industry experts.
Octodec’s, a leading real estate investment fund, shows the latest interim results that the retail environment is still strong.
Octodec said several commercial lease renewals are currently being finalized, with demand remaining strong across Gauteng.
It said its mall had core vacancy rates between 0.1% and 6.4%.
Total retail rental income received also increased by 3.6% on a comparable basis.
In addition, Clur, an asset manager, reported that trade density and growth for South African malls in 2022 was at its highest level in four years.
In addition, the group said the retail property sector remains resilient thanks to strong and new rental business.
Read: One of the largest shopping centers in South Africa is for sale
