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- Victoria’s COVID-19 lockdowns have dragged down the entire country’s retail sales for the month of August
- The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has revealed turnover across both in-store and online retail businesses dropped around four per cent across the month
- Victoria led the charge, with retail sales dropping a massive 12.6 per cent over August as the economic impacts of lockdown restrictions set-in
- The drop in sales across August follows two consecutive months of retail growth — 2.7 per cent in June and 3.2 per cent in July
- The ABS revealed clothing and department stores were the worst affected, as thousands of non-essential businesses closed due to COVID-19 restrictions
- Today’s results follow the news iconic family restaurant Sizzler will shut all of its remaining stores in Australia
The effect of Victoria’s sweeping stage-four lockdown restrictions have dragged down Australia’s total retail sales in the month of August.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has revealed turnover across both in-store and online retail businesses dropped around four per cent across the month.
The drop in sales across August follows two consecutive months of retail growth — 2.7 per cent in June and 3.2 per cent in July.
The state of Victoria led the charge, with turnover dropping a massive 12.6 per cent over the period as the economic impacts of lockdown restrictions set-in.
Thousands of non-essential businesses were forced to shut their doors after the Victorian Government imposed tough lockdowns across Melbourne to try and stop the spread of a deadly second-wave of COVID-19.
Unsurprisingly, the clothing, footwear, personal accessories and department stores were the worst affected – dropping 10.5 per cent and 8.9 per cent respectively.
Quarterly Economy Wide Surveys Director Ben James said all industries recorded less turnover in the month of August, though some faired better than others.
“All industries fell in August, as trading restrictions in Victoria drove falls at a national level,” Ben explained.
“Household goods retailing dropped six per cent, other retailing fell by 5.1 per cent, clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing dropped 10.5 per cent, cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services fell by 6.6 per cent and department stores saw large falls,” he added.
Ben also revelaed food retailers faired relatively well during the period, only recording a drop in turnover of 0.2 per cent.
Looking beyond Victoria, other states and territories also reported a drop in retail spending across August, including NSW, Queensland, South Australia, WA and Tasmania.
In the meantime, today’s results follow the news iconic family restaurant Sizzler will shut all of its remaining stores in Australia. Flight Centre also flagged further store closures, after announcing a loss of more than $800 million for FY20.
Other retailers, including Australian department store David Jones and Swedish retailer H+M, have also announced they are considering shutting more stores as COVID-19 continues to decimate profits.
