Australian retail sales February 2023

Dispersion rising

Published: 05 April 2023

Retail sales rose 6.5% in February 2023. The additional detail showed a substantial slowdown in electronics, and small declines in hardware and furniture. This is the start of the downturn, which is now impacting those categories that tend to have the quickest reaction to interest rate increases and had the greatest pull forward during COVID-19. While demand elsewhere looks to be holding up well, it is largely price inflation driven. Underlying trends are softening, and a broader retail slowdown will be evident in coming months in our view.

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