Victoria Continues to Drive Retail Sale Volumes in December

In a report from ABS, retail sales volumes rose 2.5 percent in the December quarter of 2020. This follows a rise of 6.5 percent in the September quarter of 2020.

Footwear and personal accessory retailing increased by 18.1 percent, cafes and restaurants rose by 10.4 percent and department stores also increased by 12.0 percent.

“The quarterly rise was driven by Victoria (12.8 per cent), as volumes recovered following COVID-19 restrictions from August to October,” said Ben James, the Director of Quarterly Economy Wide Surveys.

“Without the Victorian rise, seasonally adjusted volumes would have fallen in the December quarter 2020.”

Despite this increase, the monthly turnover of December dropped 4.1 percent, following a rise of 7.1 percent the month prior.

“Victoria (-6.8 percent) led falls at the state and territory level following stronger trade in November as COVID-19 restrictions eased,” James said. “New South Wales (-4.9 percent) also fell as the Northern Beaches cluster impacted spending in the lead-up to Christmas.”

Annual retail sales are still 9.6 percent above levels in December the year before.

Online sales made up 9.1 percent of total retail sales in December 2020. The year before, online retail made up only 6.6 percent of total retail turnover.

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