Australia Retail Sales Sink 4.4% In December

(RTTNews) - The total value of retail sales in Australia was down a seasonally adjusted 4.4 percent on month in December, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Monday - coming in at A$31.926 billion.

That follows the 7.3 percent spike in November.

Individually, retail sales for household goods (-9.2 percent), clothing (-17.3 percent), department stores (-21.3), other (-4.0 percent) and takeaway food (-0.7 percent) were down, while food (+2.2 percent) was up.

On a yearly basis, retail sales were up 4.8 percent in December.

For the fourth quarter of 2021, retail sales were up 8.2 percent on quarter and 3.6 percent on year at A$92.327 billion.