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Retail sales drop in February amid lower consumer confidence
Bank Indonesia’s latest data point to higher retail sales in February when compared to last year, but the month-to-month numbers reveal a consecutive decline, which experts attribute to seasonal factors.
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Women carry fruits and vegetables in baskets on their heads at a market in Denpasar, Bali, on Nov. 7, 2022. (AFP/David Gannon)
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reliminary data point to annual growth in retail sales in February, but the month-to-month numbers reveal a consecutive decline that experts attribute to seasonal factors.
According to Bank Indonesia’s (BI) latest survey, retail sales in February were up an estimated 2.6 percent year-on-year (yoy) but down 1.4 percent when compared to the preceding month.
The decline comes on top of the 0.6 percent month-to-month (mtm) drop registered in January, after the January data was revised down from preliminary figures that had pointed to a 1.7 percent monthly increase.
“[These February] estimates are better than the previous months’ as they were in a contraction phase,” BI spokesman Fajar Majardi wrote in a press statement released on Thursday.
Clothing is estimated to have booked the highest sales growth last month with a 10.8 percent yoy increase, followed by the food, beverages and tobacco category at 5 percent.
The preliminary data point to declining sales across all other categories, with the biggest drop seen in automotive fuels, which were down 8.8 percent from the same period a year ago.
Sales of electronics have been declining for years in Indonesia, with full-year drops registered in 2021 and 2022.
