Local retail sales rise 5.1% year on year in April

According to data published by Stats SA, South African retail trade sales increased by 5,1% year-on-year in April 2025.

Source: Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko

Measured in real terms (constant 2019 prices), retail trade sales increased by 5,1% year-on-year in April 2025.
The largest positive contributors to this increase were:

general dealers (5,3% and contributing 2,3 percentage points); and

retailers in textiles, clothing, footwear and leather goods (12,5% and contributing 2,1 percentage points).

Seasonally adjusted retail trade sales increased by 0,9% in April 2025 compared with March 2025. This followed month-on-month changes of -0,3% in March 2025 and -1,1% in February 2025.

Retail trade sales increased by 3,4% in the three months ended April 2025 compared with the three months ended April 2024.

The largest positive contributors to this increase were:

retailers in textiles, clothing, footwear and leather goods (10,5% and contributing 1,6 percentage points); and

general dealers (2,8% and contributing 1,3 percentage points).

Seasonally adjusted retail trade sales decreased by 0,5% in the three months ended April 2025 compared with the previous three months.

The largest negative contributors to this decrease were:

general dealers (-1,2% and contributing -0,5 of a percentage point); and

retailers in food, beverages and tobacco in specialised stores (-3,3% and contributing -0,3 of a percentage point).

The largest positive contributor was all ‘other’ retailers (2,0% and contributing 0,2 of a percentage point).