Australian retail sales rose by 0.4% in October, beating expectations for no growth overall, with the annual rate of growth slowing to 5.67% from 5.84% in October.
The lift, coming on the back of an upwardly-revised 1.32% gain in September, left monthly retail sales at a record high of $23.74b.
Household good retailing, buoyed by rising house prices and, like September, the iPhone 6 launch, surged by 11.6% on year, displacing Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services as the fastest growing component over the past 12 months. For the month department store sales rose 2%, the best of all categories, although sales still remain down on year.
For the month South Australia recorded the fastest pace of sales growth at 1.2%, outpacing increases in NSW and Queensland of 0.7% and 0.4%.
Unsurprisingly given house price growth, along with overall economic performance in the case of NSW, sales in NSW, Victoria and Queensland have grown the most over the past 12 months, recording gains of 9.8%, 6.1% and 4.8% respectively.
To see the full report from the ABS click here:
