2018.07.1807:40:00UTC+00South Africa Retail Sales Growth Improves In May

South Africa's retail sales growth accelerated at a faster-than-expected pace in May, figures from Statistics South Africa showed Wednesday.

Retail sales climbed 1.9 percent year-over-year in May, faster than the 0.5 percent rise in April. That was above the 0.8 percent increase economists had forecast.

Sales of household furniture, appliances and equipment grew 14.4 percent annually in May and those of textiles, clothing, footwear and leather goods rose by 4.1 percent.

On a monthly basis, retail sales increased 1.1 percent from April, when it dropped by 1.1 percent.