What happened
South Africa’s retail sales grew by +3.9% y/y in February, slower than January’s growth of +7.0% y/y. February’s figure missed the consensus estimate of +6.6% y/y.

February’s growth was mainly led by ‘clothing & footwear’, growing by +15.7% y/y (+10.8% y/y in January). This category has been a driver of growth and has hugely outperformed other retail categories.