2020.06.0401:45:00UTC+00Australia Retail Sales Plummet 17.7% In April

The total value of retail sales in Australia tumbled by a seasonally adjusted 17.7 percent on month in April, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday - coming in at A$24.791 billion.

That was slightly better than expectations for a decline of 17.9 percent following the 8.5 percent increase in March.

The decline was led by drops in food retailing (-17.4 percent), cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services (-35.4 percent), clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (-53.6 percent), other retailing (-14.4 percent), department stores (-14.9 percent), and household goods retailing (-0.1 percent).

By region, sales were down in Victoria (-21.1 percent), New South Wales (-17.5 percent), Queensland (-15.7 percent), Western Australia (-16.8 percent), South Australia (-14.6 percent), Tasmania (-17.5 percent), the Australian Capital Territory (-14.9 percent), and the Northern Territory (-7.7 percent).