South Africa's retail sales rise 3.1 percent y/y in January

JOHANNESBURG: South African retail sales rose by 3.1 percent year-on-year in January, after increasing by a revised 5.1 percent in December, data from the statistics office showed on Thursday.

Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast a 6.2 percent year-on-year increase in retail sales in January.

On a month-on-month basis, sales were down 1.6 percent but rose 5.4 percent in the three months to January compared with the same period last year, Statistics South Africa said.