| Apr-2021 ($m) | Mar-2021 to Apr-2021 (% change) | Apr-2020 to Apr-2021 (% change) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trend | na | na | na |
| Seasonally Adjusted | 31028.2 | 1.1 | 25.0 |
na not available
Latest release
Retail Trade, Australia
Monthly and quarterly estimates of turnover and volumes for retail businesses, including store and online sales.
Reference period
April 2021
Released
3/06/2021
Key statistics
The April 2021 seasonally adjusted estimate:
- Rose 1.1% month-on-month.
- This is unchanged from the Preliminary Retail Trade release.
- Rose 25.0% compared with April 2020.
Total retail turnover
Changes in this issue
To understand more about any changes in this issue, suspension of trend estimates, and COVID-19 in April 2021, please read the survey impacts and changes.
Analysis by industry
Food retailing
Food retailing rose 1.4% ($168.3m) in April, in seasonally adjusted terms.
By industry subgroup, the seasonally adjusted estimate:
rose 1.2% ($121.3m) for Supermarket and grocery stores.
rose 3.0% ($37.6m) for Liquor retailing.
rose 1.1% ($9.4m) for Other specialised food retailing.
Household goods retailing
Household goods retailing rose 1.5% ($82.9m) in April, in seasonally adjusted terms.
By industry subgroup, the seasonally adjusted estimate:
rose 3.0% ($62.6m) for Electrical and electronic goods retailing.
rose 1.7% ($26.1m) for Furniture, floor coverings, houseware and textile goods retailing.
fell 0.3% (-$5.8m) for Hardware, building and garden supplies retailing.
Clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing
Clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing rose 1.2% ($29.1m) in April, in seasonally adjusted terms.
By industry subgroup, the seasonally adjusted estimate:
rose 3.1% ($52.6m) for Clothing retailing.
fell 2.8% (-$23.5m) for Footwear and other personal accessory retailing.
Department stores
Department stores fell 6.7% (-$121.8m) in April, in seasonally adjusted terms.
Other retailing
Other retailing rose 1.7% ($79.0m) in April, in seasonally adjusted terms.
By industry subgroup, the seasonally adjusted estimate:
rose 8.3% ($44.5m) for Other recreational goods retailing.
rose 12.2% ($24.7m) for Newspaper and book retailing.
rose 0.4% ($8.0m) for Other retailing n.e.c..
rose 0.1% ($1.9m) for Pharmaceutical, cosmetic and toiletry goods retailing.
Cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services
Cafés, restaurants and takeaway food services rose 2.3% ($91.1m) in April, in seasonally adjusted terms.
By industry subgroup, the seasonally adjusted estimate:
rose 4.4% ($77.1m) for Takeaway food services.
rose 0.6% ($14.0m) for Cafes, restaurants and catering services.
Original estimates for chains and larger retailers, and smaller retailers
- The original estimate for chains and other larger retailers fell 3.7% in April 2021.
- The original estimate for smaller retailers fell 3.1% in April 2021.
Data downloads
Time series spreadsheets
Data files
Table 1. Retail turnover, by industry group
Table 2. Retail turnover, by industry group - percentage change from previous month
Table 3. Retail turnover, by state
Table 4. Retail turnover, by state - percentage change from previous month
Table 5. Quarterly retail turnover percentage change, volume and price, seasonally adjusted - by industry group
Table 6. Quarterly retail turnover percentage change, volume and price, seasonally adjusted - by state
Table 7. Quarterly retail turnover, chain volume measures - by industry group
Table 8. Quarterly retail turnover percentage change, chain volume measures - by industry group
Table 9. Quarterly retail turnover, chain volume measures - by state
Table 10. Quarterly retail turnover percentage change, chain volume measures - by state
Table 11. Retail turnover, state by industry subgroup, original
Table 12. Retail turnover, state by industry subgroup, seasonally adjusted
Table 13. Retail turnover, state by industry subgroup, trend
Table 14. Retail turnover; completely enumerated (large) and sample (small), by industry group
Table 15. Retail turnover; completely enumerated (large) and sample (small), by state
Table 16. Retail turnover, completely enumerated sector: Australia
Table 17. Quarterly consumer sales, Australia, by type of activity
Table 18. Quarterly consumer sales, Australia, by type of activity - percentage change from previous quarter
Table 19. Quarterly retail turnover per capita, Australia, all series
Table 20. Quarterly retail turnover per capita, Australia, all series - percentage change from previous quarter
Table 21. Experimental series - online retail turnover Australia by type of activity
Table 22. Experimental series - online retail turnover Australia by type of activity percentage change
Table 23. Experimental series - online retail turnover Australia by type of activity percentage of total Australian retail turnover
Survey impacts and changes
Changes in this issue
There are no revisions to the original estimates.
This issue includes updated online retail turnover estimates for the April 2021 reference month.
This month also includes updated Quarterly Consumer Sales data, included in the Data Downloads section of this publication.
The ABS is ceasing the release of the Preliminary Retail Trade (8501.0.55.008) following the release of June 2021 data. A new schedule of releases for Retail Trade Australia (8501.0) is being considered, and will be announced when available.
Suspension of trend series
The trend series attempts to measure underlying behaviour in retail activity. In the short term, this measurement will be significantly affected by changes to regular patterns in retail spending that will occur during the Coronavirus pandemic. If the trend estimates in this publication were to be calculated without fully accounting for irregular events, they would likely provide a misleading view of underlying retail activity.
The retail trend series was therefore suspended from February 2020, and now published only to June 2019. The trend series will be reinstated when more certainty emerges in the underlying trend in retail.
Coronavirus (COVID-19) in April
The World Health Organisation identified COVID-19 as an international health emergency on 30 January 2020.
In March 2020, nationwide regulations were introduced to encourage physical distancing which impacted the ability of businesses to trade as normal. Movement across state borders were also restricted.
Following May 2020, regulations have been implemented on a local basis in response to increased case numbers.
In March 2021, the Greater Brisbane region in Queensland saw restrictions reintroduced on 29 March, which continued until the end of the month and ended on 1 April.
In April 2021, Perth and some regional areas of Western Australia saw restrictions from 24 April through to 26 April inclusive.
Previous catalogue number
This release previously used catalogue number 8501.0.
Inquiries
For inquiries about these and related statistics, contact the Customer Assistance Service via the ABS website Contact Us page. The ABS Privacy Policy outlines how the ABS will handle any personal information that you provide to us.