Stats SA's latest retail sales data show a 6.6% reduction in spending on food, beverages and tobacco.

Retail sales fell for a fourth consecutive quarter in South Africa, signifying the effects of an increasingly difficult economic climate. This is becoming more apparent as household belts are getting uncomfortably tight with scaled-back spending. This was revealed in the latest Stats SA retail sales data.

Over the past year, consumers put the brakes on retailer expenditure. Stats SA's retail trade sales data show retailers saw 1.6% less in their tills - which is more than Bloomberg economists had predicted at -0.7% - and pulled back sharply on expenditure at specialist stores, which have seen a 6.6% decline in spending at food, beverages and tobacco. They are also spending less on pharmaceuticals, which are down 3%.

General dealers were down 1.9% but retailers of textiles, clothing, footwear and leather goods were up 6.3%.

Seasonally adjusted, retail trade sales decreased by 0.7% in March 2023 compared with February 2023.

A year-by-year comparison shows that in Q1 of 2023, retail trade sales were down by 1% compared with Q1 of 2022, largely dragged down by retailers in hardware, paint and glass (-5.7%); general dealers (-1%); pharmaceuticals (-3%); and retailers in food, beverages and tobacco in specialised stores (-4.8%).

Seasonally adjusted retail trade...