South Africa Retail Trade Growth Accelerates

2026-07-22 11:14 By Larissa Caser 1 min. read

Retail sales in South Africa increase 2.3% year-on-year in May 2026, accelerating from a downwardly revised 1.2% increase in the previous month.

Retailers in textiles, clothing, footwear and leather goods gave the largest contribution, where sales rebounded by 3.7% following a 1% decline in the previous month.

Sales also remained steady among general dealers (1.0%, unchanged from April), while growth in pharmaceuticals, medical goods, cosmetics and toiletries retailers accelerated to 2.1% from 0.6%.

Meanwhile, sales growth slowed for retailers of household furniture, appliances and equipment (8.1% vs. 8.6%), and declined for food, beverages and tobacco in specialised stores (-0.4% vs. -0.3%), and hardware, paint and glass retailers (-0.4% vs. 0.1%).

On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, retail sales rose 0.1%, easing from a 0.9% increase in April.

Over the three months to May, retail trade increased 2.0% compared with the same period a year earlier.



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South Africa Retail Trade Growth Accelerates
Retail sales in South Africa increase 2.3% year-on-year in May 2026, accelerating from a downwardly revised 1.2% increase in the previous month. Retailers in textiles, clothing, footwear and leather goods gave the largest contribution, where sales rebounded by 3.7% following a 1% decline in the previous month. Sales also remained steady among general dealers (1.0%, unchanged from April), while growth in pharmaceuticals, medical goods, cosmetics and toiletries retailers accelerated to 2.1% from 0.6%. Meanwhile, sales growth slowed for retailers of household furniture, appliances and equipment (8.1% vs. 8.6%), and declined for food, beverages and tobacco in specialised stores (-0.4% vs. -0.3%), and hardware, paint and glass retailers (-0.4% vs. 0.1%). On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, retail sales rose 0.1%, easing from a 0.9% increase in April. Over the three months to May, retail trade increased 2.0% compared with the same period a year earlier.
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