South Africa’s retail sales growth picks up in May

South Africa’s retail sales were reported to have risen at an annualized rate of 0.8% in May, following a revised up 0.7% growth in April.

In May, sales rose at a faster rate at general dealers (1.7% YoY compared to 0.4% YoY in April).

Meanwhile, sales rebounded for food, beverages & tobacco (4.4% YoY after a 1.3% YoY slump in April) and for hardware, paint & glass (0.9% YoY after a 2% YoY drop in April).

And, sales increased at a softer pace for pharmaceuticals & medical goods (2.9% YoY versus 4.1% YoY in April), household furniture, appliances & equipment (6.2% YoY versus 6.4% YoY in April) and at all other retailers (0.8% YoY versus 1.3% YoY in April).

In seasonally adjusted month-over-month terms, retail sales in the country dropped 0.7% in May, after a 0.5% increase in April.

The South African Rand was 0.83% weaker on the day against the US Dollar, with the USD/ZAR currency pair last trading at 18.1849.