May's retail trade sales increases by 2.4%

Cape Town – Retail trade sales increased by 2.4% year-on-year for May 2015, Statistics SA said on Wednesday.

The highest annual growth rates were recorded for retailers in hardware, paint and glass (9%); and food, beverages and tobacco in specialised stores.

“The main contributors to the 2.4% increase were general dealers [contributing 0,9 of a percentage point] and retailers in hardware, paint and glass [contributing 0.6 of a percentage point].

“Seasonally adjusted retail trade sales increased by 0.1% month-on-month in May 2015. This followed month-on-month changes of 0% in April 2015 and -0.2% in March 2015,” said Stats SA.

“Seasonally adjusted retail trade sales increased by 0.8% in the three months ended May 2015 compared with the previous three months.

“Retail trade sales increased by 2.8% in the three months ended May 2015 compared with the three months ended May 2014.

"The main contributors to this increase were general dealers (2.3% and contributing 1.0 percentage point); and retailers in hardware, paint and glass (9.7% and contributing 0.7 of a percentage point),” according to Stats SA.