The Australian Statistician announced on 16 March the commitment of the ABS to provide the community and governments with access to additional, more up-to-date information on the economic responses of individuals and businesses to the coronavirus, COVID-19.
This preliminary retail turnover data release is the first in a series of additional product releases over the coming months to help measure the economic impact of coronavirus. This release provides the preliminary estimate for Australian retail turnover for the month of February. This estimate will be subject to revision with the final monthly estimate published 3 April, 2020 in Retail Trade, Australia (Cat no 8501.0). Future preliminary retail turnover estimates will be published around two weeks prior to the advertised release date of Retail Trade, Australia (Cat no 8501.0).
Australian retail turnover rose 0.4 per cent, based on preliminary figures, in February 2020, seasonally adjusted, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Retail Trade figures.
The preliminary figures indicate a rise in food will be slightly offset by falls in industries such as clothing, footwear and personal accessories and other retailing. While some businesses (e.g. those that rely on tourism) reported that coronavirus negatively impacted turnover, a range of other businesses saw limited impacts from coronavirus in February.
Further information is available Retail Trade, Australia, Preliminary (cat. no. 8501.0.55.008). More detailed industry analysis and further information on the statistical methodology will be available in the final release, Retail Trade, Australia (cat no. 8501.0) for February, on 3 April, 2020.