Retail Sales Register Worst Result in 15 Years in Brazil

By Lise Alves, Senior Contributing Reporter

SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL – Retail sales in Brazil decreased for the fifth consecutive time in August, registering a retraction of 0.9 percent in comparison to July and by 6.9 percent in comparison to August 2014, according to the IBGE (Brazilian Statistics Bureau). This latest result was the worst for the month of August in fifteen years, and the accumulated retraction of retail sales from January to August is at three percent.

According to the Bureau the segment of supermarket, food and tobacco was the main negative impact over retail sales for the month of August. The segment declined by 4.8 percent on the year-on-year comparison. This was the seventh consecutive retraction for the segment, which accumulates a 2.3 percent decline for the first eight months of the year.

“This is a segment that is usually one of the last ones to see a cut in budget, but the inflationary pressures and hikes in some of the items in this segment which have been higher than the general inflation rate have had negative impact on supermarket sales,” said Isabella Nunes, Retail Services Coordinator Manager at IBGE.

The data shows that only four states (Amazonas, Ceara, Mato Grosso do Sul, and Acre) did not register negative retail sales results for August.

The extended index, which includes automobile sales, auto parts and construction material) also declined in August in comparison to July, by two percent. The accumulated decline for the year was of negative 5.2 percent. Auto sales and auto parts sales fell by 5.2 percent from July to August while construction material sales fell by 2.3 percent.