Retail sales in April rose 3.8 per cent year over year to $37.2 billion, Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data showed.
Other retailing, which includes cosmetics, sports and recreational goods, posted the highest increase of 5.3 per cent, as sales totalled $5.9 billion.
Food sales grew 4.2 per cent to $14.7 billion while cafes, restaurants, and takeaway climbed 3.9 per cent to $5.6 billion.
“The rise in food-related spending was driven by more dining out in Queensland this month. The bounce-back comes after adverse weather negatively impacted cafe and restaurant sales,” Robert Ewing, ABS head of business statistics, said.
Household goods jumped 3.8 per cent to $5.9 billion and clothing, footwear, and accessories inched 1.35 per cent higher to $3 billion.
Department store sales remained flat at $1.9 billion.
“It’s positive to see the continuation of the elevated growth trend that we’ve seen across the
calendar year. However, retail businesses of all sizes remain vulnerable to the dual headwinds of global market volatility and enormous costs of doing business,” Chris Rodwell, Australian Retailers Association (ARA) CEO, said.
“The modest rate cut from the Reserve Bank of Australia in May will help bolster consumer
confidence in coming months. However, we need to see substantially more cash rate reductions to generate the kind of retail recovery Australia needs. That’s why we urge the RBA to stay vigilant to opportunities to provide further relief.”
Among all states, Western Australia witnessed the highest sales growth of 6.2 per cent, followed by Victoria at 5.1 per cent and Queensland at 4.5 per cent.
Both South Australia and the Northern Territory saw sales rise 3 per cent while New South Wales sales climbed 1.7 per cent.
The Australian Capital Territory had the least growth of 1.5 per cent.