Retail sales retreated much more than expected in December and the sector ended 2022 with the weakest growth in six years, with fiscal stimuli being offset by the weight of the credit crunch in the consumer’s pocket.
Sales plunged 2.6% in December over the previous month, in a much worse result than the expectation in a Reuters poll for a 0.7% retreat and the biggest drop since August 2021 (-4.8%).
In comparison with the same period of the previous year, sales advanced 0.4%, also well below the expected gain of 2.40%.
Despite these results, Brazilian retail still closed 2022 in the blue, after a year marked by government measures to reduce prices and boost income, with a 1.0% increase in sales. But that was the weakest performance since 2016 (-6.2%) and was short of the 1.4% gain seen in 2021.
“This result accumulated in the year is very close to that of previous years. So in 2022 there is a similar growth, but even more timid”, explained the research manager, Cristiano Santos.
The scenario is not very bright for 2023, since the positive impact of fiscal stimuli and a heated job market are offset by high interest rates and pressured inflation.
Among the eight surveyed activities, seven had decrease in December, the main ones being Textiles, apparel and footwear (-6.1%) and Other articles of personal and domestic use (-2.9%).
In turn, last year’s result was highly concentrated in the fuel and lubricants sector, which accumulated a 16.6% increase in the period, a record for the historical series, against 0.3% in 2021.
Also noteworthy was the 14.8% increase in sales of books, newspapers, magazines and stationery last year, a result associated with the return of the circulation of people and face-to-face classes in the post-pandemic period.
The hyper and supermarket sector, with the greatest weight in the survey, ended the year with an accumulated gain of 1.4%.
“In the last quarter, we also had the effect of the increase in the AuxÃlio Brasil, reaching lower income families who tend to use the value of the benefit in hyper and supermarkets”, said Santos.
Expanded retail trade, which includes vehicles, motorcycles, parts and pieces and construction material, ended December up 0.4% over the previous month, but accumulated a loss of 0.6% in the year, the first since 2020 (- 1.4%).
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