South African retail sales fall 1.6% year on year in March

A customer compares prices while shopping at a Pick and Pay shop in East London, in the Eastern Cape province, South Africa, March 17, 2023. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko

May 17, 2023 _ JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South African retail sales fell 1.6% year on year in March after falling by a revised 0.7% in February, Statistics South Africa figures showed on Wednesday.

On a month-on-month basis, sales decreased 0.7%.

Sales in the three months to the end of March were down 1.0% compared with the same period last year, the statistics agency said.

(Reporting by Nellie Peyton; Editing by Promit Mukherjee)