The lead-up to Christmas looks set to be a slow one at retail – but a boost in exports may offset losses.
The AFGC CHEP Retail Index has revealed year-on-year retail growth is expected to soften to 3.6 per cent in the December quarter, from 4.2 per cent in the September quarter.
On a monthly basis, the index was 4.4 per cent higher in September 2015 compared with September 2014, with retail trade turnover of $24.5 billion.
Growth is expected to slow to 3.6 per cent year-on-year in the month of November, with turnover of $24.6 billion.
Australian Bureau of Statistics trend data indicates that the consistently strong food sector saw year-on-year sales growth weakening to below three per cent in August.
Australian Food and Grocery Council CEO Gary Dawson said food price inflation had weakened domestically due to below average income growth over the past three years and a slowing in population growth.
“However, at the same time, the lower Australian dollar has seen a 28 per cent surge in Australia’s food and beverage exports in 2014-15, as reported in our annual industry snapshot State of the Industry 2015, underpinning growth in the food and grocery sector despite challenging economic conditions,” said Dawson.
