MEDIA RELEASE
10 January 2020	Embargoed: 11:30 am (Canberra time)

Australian retail turnover rose 0.9 per cent in November 2019, seasonally adjusted, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Retail Trade figures.


This follows a rise of 0.1 per cent in October 2019.

There were rises for clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (3.1 per cent), food retailing (0.5 per cent), household goods retailing (1.2 per cent), department stores (3.4 per cent) and cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services (0.9 per cent). These rises were partially offset by a fall in other retailing (-0.5 per cent).

"We have seen strong growth in Black Friday sales, both in areas such as electrical goods and online sales, but also in areas such as clothing and furniture," said Ben James, Director of Quarterly Economy Wide Surveys. "While seasonal adjustment removes regular seasonal patterns associated with Black Friday based on prior results, the strong seasonally adjusted rises in a number of sub-groups this month shows that the impact of this Black Friday exceeded that of previous years."

In seasonally adjusted terms, there were rises in Victoria (1.1 per cent), Queensland (1.2 per cent), New South Wales (0.7 per cent), South Australia (1.4 per cent), Western Australia (0.5 per cent), the Australian Capital Territory (0.7 per cent) and Tasmania (0.4 per cent). The Northern Territory (-0.2 per cent) fell in seasonally adjusted terms in November 2019.

The trend estimate for Australian retail turnover rose 0.3 per cent in November 2019, following a 0.3 per cent rise in October 2019. Compared to November 2018, the trend estimate rose 2.9 per cent.

Online retail turnover contributed 7.1 per cent to total retail turnover in original terms in November 2019. In November 2018, online retail turnover contributed 6.6 per cent to total retail.

More detailed industry analysis and further information on the statistical methodology is available in Retail Trade, Australia (cat no. 8501.0).

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