Brazil: Retail sales contract in December
Retail sales (excluding cars and construction) fell 1.5% from the previous month in seasonally-adjusted terms in December, which contrasted November’s revised 1.0% increase (previously reported: +0.7% month-on-month).
Declines were seen nearly across the board, with only two of the eight components of the index seen growth in sales. A sharp drop in supermarket sales and sales of fuels largely drove the downturn.
On an annual basis, retail sales increased 3.2% in December, which was notably below Novemer’s 6.0% growth. For the full year 2017, retail sales rose 2.0%, a notable improvement to 2016’s 6.3% contraction.