MEDIA RELEASE
29 March 2011	Embargo: 11.30 am (Canberra time)	39/2011

Since May 2010, South Australia's monthly retail spending has lagged behind national spending as reported in data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

The trend estimate of monthly retail turnover for South Australia decreased by 0.2% in January 2011, while the national estimate was flat at 0.0%.

In February, March and April 2010, South Australia's monthly retail spending was higher than national figures, but since then, SA has fallen behind the national rates and shown negative growth since July 2010.

South Australia's negative growth fell to a peak of negative 0.3% in September and October 2010. It has remained constant at negative 0.2% for the past three months. In comparison, the Australian level has remained flat at 0.0% growth for the five months to January 2011.

For the period of negative monthly growth for South Australia's retail turnover (July 2010 to January 2011), the main retail groups contributing to this decline were: Clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing; Department stores and Food retailing.

The full article on Patterns in South Australian Retail Turnover can be found in the March edition of SA Stats (cat. no. 1345.4).

Further information is available in Retail Trade, Australia, January 2011 (cat. no. 8501.0).

Media note: When reporting ABS data you must attribute the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or the ABS) as the source.