Retail sales in South Africa have beaten market expectations, and there are glimmers of hope for the medium to long term. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Stats SA, retail trade sales increased from a decline of 0.7% in February to an expansion of 2.3% in March, which FNB Senior Economist Siphamandla Mkhwanazi linked to improved holiday-related consumer shopping activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The outcome was better than the market expectations of a mild expansion of 0.4%. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
On a monthly basis, volumes jumped from an expansion of 1.0% in February to 1.4% in March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That said, the data shows that volumes declined by 0.9% quarter-on-quarter, implying that the retail industry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nevertheless, this data means that volumes declined by 0.9% q\/q in 1Q24, implying that the retail industry will detract from the quarterly GDP growth figure, joining the latest manufacturing and mining data. <\/p>\n\n\n\n