Clothing sales helps beat the February retail sales blues

PURCHASES of clothing helped push retail sales for the month of February to a year-on-year gain of 3.9%, an indication that such momentum should help drive some economic growth even if overall gross domestic product (GDP) is being let down by mining and manufacturing.

- NICOLA MAWSON

Retail sales, overall, contribute 20% to the economy, with the wholesale and retail sectors, specifically, being estimated to be the fourth-largest contributors to the country's GDP.

Although Shireen Darmalingam, Standard Bank economist, said in a note that sales on a yearly basis undershot expectations, coming in at 3.9% year-on-year, after having increased by 7% year-on-year in January stripping out the effects of inflation. However, January would have been boosted by back-to-school sales.

Retailers in textiles, clothing, footwear and leather goods gained 15.7%, which contributed 2.3 percentage points to this gain. General dealers gained 3.4%, which added 1.6 percentage points. This is according to a Statistics South Africa print, released on Wednesday.