Home topics news AI Generated News News NSW, Victoria lead retail spending slump after earlier splurge Yajush Gupta May 1, 2024 Retail turnover in Australia declined by 0.4 percent in March 2024, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). This decrease follows a 0.2 percent rise in February and a 1.0 percent increase in January of the same year. Ben Dorber, Head of Retail Statistics at the ABS, attributed the decline to ongoing pressure from high living costs, which led consumers to scale back their spending on retail goods. He noted that underlying retail turnover has remained stagnant for the past six months, with only a 0.8 percent increase compared to March 2023. This growth is notably the weakest on record outside of extraordinary circumstances like the pandemic and the introduction of the GST. The decline in turnover was observed across most industries, except for food retailing, which saw a slight increase of 0.9 percent. The largest decreases were in clothing, footwear, and personal accessory retailing, which dropped by 4.3 percent, and department stores, which fell by 1.6 percent. Dorber mentioned that the surge in turnover for fashion and accessory retailers seen last month, possibly influenced by events like Taylor Swift concerts, was short-lived and reversed this month. Other sectors experiencing declines include household goods retailing (-1.4 percent), other retailing (-0.3 percent), and cafes, restaurants, and takeaway food services (-0.2 percent). The decline in retail turnover was particularly pronounced in New South Wales (-1.1 percent)