Following 11 consecutive months of increasing turnover, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has reported a 3.9 per cent decline in December of 2022.
ABS head of statistics Ben Dorber noted that in December of 2021 a similar change occurred, highlighting a decline of 3.7 per cent.
“Retail turnover remains elevated at its sixth highest level in the series and was up 7.5 per cent through the year,” said.
“The large fall in December suggests that retail spending is slowing due to high cost-of-living pressures.”
Dorber added that many businesses have reported consumers took advantage of promotional activity and discounting during ‘Black Friday’ (24 November) and completed more Christmas shopping in November.
“While there was a strong rise in original terms for December, as is expected in the lead up to Christmas, this year’s rise in original terms was smaller than those typically seen in past December months. This has led to the large seasonally adjusted fall,” he said.
The most significant change in turnover was recorded in Victoria and Western Australia, both decreasing by 4.7 per cent.
After collecting data from more than 400 POS systems across Australia, Retail Edge released its jewellery retail analysis for December, noting that comparative overall sales dollars were steady on a year-by-year comparison with 2021, improving by 0.6 per cent.
In January, Retail Edge reported an unusual reversal of pattern between two key areas of sales analysis.
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