Australian Retail Sales Inch Up in February, Food Spending Drives Modest Growth

Australian retail sales increased modestly by 0.2% month to month in February 2025, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). This release on April 1, 2025, was below forecasted 0.3% increase. The modest increase was led by increasing food spending for the second month in a row.

It was, nonetheless, tempered by restraint in demand for house-hold equipment and furnishings, declining consecutively over two months. Retailing was greater overall by 3.6% from the level of February 2024 to around A$37.1 billion. Industries were varied; grocery and food retailing experienced rising consumer expenditure while house-hold furnishing and equipment retailing faced declining discretionary expenditure together with the run-down of the previous quarter's promotions.

This sales report for retail precedes a looming Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) policy setting. Interest rates are widely expected to be left untouched at 4.10%, recently cut to spur the economy as inflation was falling. Economists expect interest rate actions in the future will depend on subsequent economic information and risk considerations.