October retail sales accelerate to 2.2%

Retail sales picked up in October, reflecting year-on-year growth of 2.2%, according to data from Statistics South Africa (Stats SA).

Analysts had expected the uptick, with NKC Economics anticipating sales would come in at 2.5%. The figures were still higher than the annual 0.6% growth recorded in September.

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The main contributors to growth came from "other retailers", which grew by 6.2% and contributed 0.8 of a percentage point to overall sales growth. 

Retailers in textiles, clothing, footwear, and leather goods grew sales by 3.4% and contributed 0.6 of a percentage point to overall growth.

The highest annual growth was recorded for retailers in household furniture, appliances and equipment, which was up 10.1%.

Month-on-month October sales were up 0.6%, compared to the decline of 0.7% recorded for the month of September.