Australia Retail Sales Unexpectedly Drop

Retail sales in Australia rose 1.2% month-on-month in June 2025, accelerating from a revised 0.5% increase in May and well above market expectations of a 0.4% gain. This marked the strongest monthly growth since March 2022, driven by a rebound in food sales (0.9% vs -0.1% in May) and stronger gains in household goods (2.3% vs 0.6%) and other retailing (1.9% vs 0.1%). Meanwhile, growth slowed for clothing, footwear, and personal accessories (1.5% vs 3.5%) and department stores (1.9% vs 2.9%), while sales declined for cafes, restaurants, and takeaway food services (-0.4% vs 0.1%). Regionally, retail trade rose across all states, namely New South Wales (1.6%), Victoria (1.2%), Queensland (1.2%), South Australia (0.7%), Western Australia (0.3%), Tasmania (0.4%), Northern Territory (0.8%), and the Australian Capital Territory (1.6%). On an annual basis, retail sales jumped 4.9%—the highest since March 2023—picking up from a 3.5% increase in May.

Retail sales in Australia rose 0.2% month-on-month in May 2025, recovering from a flat reading in the previous month but missing market expectations of a 0.4% rise. Growth was driven by a rebound in clothing, footwear, and personal accessory retailing (2.9% vs -2.8% in April) and department stores (2.6% vs -2.9%). Meanwhile, household goods retailing stalled after a 0.8% increase in April. Sales in cafes, restaurants, and takeaway food services were also flat following the prior 1.2% rise. Declines were seen in food retailing (-0.4% vs -0.2%) and other retailing (-0.2% vs 0.7%). Regionally, sales rose in Western Australia (0.7%), the Australian Capital Territory (0.4%), Victoria (0.2%), and by 0.1% in New South Wales, Queensland, and South Australia. Meanwhile, sales were flat in the Northern Territory and dipped slightly in Tasmania (-0.1%). On an annual basis, retail sales grew 3.3%, easing from 3.8% in April and marking the softest pace in six months.

Australian retail sales fell 0.1% in April 2025, defying market expectations for a 0.3% rise, which was also the figure recorded in the previous month. This marked the first decline in retail turnover since December, weighed by sharper drops in clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (-2.5% vs -0.2% in March) and department stores (-2.5% vs -0.8%). Food retailing also slipped 0.3%, reversing a 0.8% gain in the previous month. In contrast, sales rose for household goods retailing (0.6% vs -0.1%), other retailing (0.7% vs 0.8%), and cafes, restaurants, and takeaway food services (1.1% vs -0.5%). Regionally, sales declined in New South Wales (-1.0%), Victoria (-0.3%), South Australia (-0.1%), Tasmania (-0.3%), the Northern Territory (-0.2%), and the Australian Capital Territory (-0.7%), but increased in Queensland (1.4%) and Western Australia (0.4%). On an annual basis, retail sales grew 3.8%, easing from March’s three-month high of 4.3%.