17.01.201806:20:00UTC+00South Africa Retail Sales Growth Exceeds Forecast

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

Retail sales advanced notably by an unadjusted 8.2 percent year-over-year in November, well above the 3.5 percent rise in October. Economists had expected the growth to improve slightly to 3.7 percent.

Sales of household furniture, appliances and equipment grew 14.1 percent annually in November and a 20.8 percent growth recorded for all other retailers.

On a monthly basis, retail sales rebounded strongly by 4.0 percent from October, when it edged down by 0.1 percent.