MEDIA RELEASE
07 February 2019	Embargoed: 11:30 am (Canberra time)

Australian retail turnover rose 0.1 per cent in January 2019, seasonally adjusted, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Retail Trade figures.

This follows a fall of 0.4 per cent in December 2018.

ABS Director of Quarterly Economy Wide Surveys, Ben Faulkner said: "There were mixed results across the industries with rises in Food retailing (0.3 per cent), Other retailing (0.7 per cent) and Cafes, restaurant and takeaway services (0.3 per cent), which were offset by falls in Department stores (-2.1 per cent), and Clothing, footwear and personal accessories retailing (-0.3 per cent). Household goods retailing (0.0 per cent) was relatively unchanged."

In seasonally adjusted terms, there were rises in New South Wales (0.7 per cent), Victoria (0.1 per cent), Tasmania (0.4 per cent), and South Australia (0.1 per cent). There were falls in Queensland (-0.5 per cent), Western Australia (-0.3 per cent), the Northern Territory (-1.2 per cent), and the Australian Capital Territory (-0.4 per cent).

The trend estimate for Australian retail turnover rose 0.1 per cent in January 2019, following a 0.1 per cent rise in December 2018. Compared to January 2018, the trend estimate rose 2.8 per cent.

Online retail turnover contributed 5.6 per cent to total retail turnover in original terms in January 2019, which is unchanged from December 2018. In January 2018, online retail turnover contributed 4.7 per cent to total retail.

More detailed industry analysis and further information on the statistical methodology is available in Retail Trade, Australia (cat no. 8501.0).

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