Sales in retail trade in Brazil changed by 0.1% from March to April. It is the fourth month in a row without negative changes. As a result, there is a cumulative change of 1.9%. The cumulative index in 12 months was 0.9%. In the second quarter of the year, retail trade increased by 1.9%, fourth consecutive positive rate. These results are from the Monthly Survey of Trade, released today (14) by the IBGE.

Of the eight activities analyzed by the survey, only three recorded positive results in April. Hyper and supermarket, food products, beverages and tobacco (3.2%), Books, newspapers, magazines and stationery (1.0%) and Pharmaceutical, medical, orthopedic articles and toiletries (0.3%). The sector of hyper and supermarkets, with the highest weight among the activities, accounted for the main positive influence in the month. That was the biggest increase in the sector since March 2020 (10.5%).

According to the manager of the survey, Cristiano Santos, the result of his activity is mainly linked to Easter’s sales. “Before the pandemic, the results of Easter’s sales in retail were observed mainly in April. In subsequent years, eggs started to be sold much sooner, in January, and those sales were dillluted along the months. This year, there was a return to the previous pattern and the significant result of Easter’s sales drove the sector of hyper and supermarkets.” 

Among the five activities with negative results in April, Office, computer and communication equipment and material (-7.2%) and Textiles, wearing apparel and footwear (-3.7%) stand out. They were responsible for driving the indicator downwards, for different reasons. The activity Textiles, wearing apparel and footwar has been on a downward trend for a while. When we consider all the indicators of this sector since September, in general, the scenario is quite negative, except for Janauary (27.3%), when major chains had promotions after the reduced sales at Christmas and the Black Friday. This huge increase took place in a low basis for comparison”.

The researcher associated the path of this activity to a change in behavior observed during the pandemic. “With the reduced flow of persons, there was less necessity of consuming products of this kind, such as clothes and footwear. This change in consumption had an impact on major chains, which closed shops in this period all over the country.” With a sequence of negative results, the sector of textiles, wearing apparel and footwear is among those that have not yet gotten back to the pre-pandemic level, being 22.1% belwo the level of February 2020.

The segment of Office computer and communication equipment and material (-7.2%) comes from an increase of 6.3% in the previous month and a decrease of 9.7% in February. “The path of this activity is related to changes in the dollar, with decreases and increases that alternate over the months,” Mr. Santos says. This activity is still 17.8% below the pre-pandemic level.

Other activities with negative results were Fuels and lubricants (-1.9%), Other personal and domestic articles (-1.4%) and Furniture and household appliances (-0.5%). In extended retail, which also includes the sectors of Vehicles, motorcycles, parts and pieces (-5.9%) and Construction material (-0.8%), there was a retreat of 1.6%.

Sales change by 0.5% from April 2022, with a decrease in five activities

Against April last year, volume of retail sales changed by 0.5%, ninth consecutive positive rate. Five of the eight activities surveyed had drops in sales Other personal and domestic articles (-18.0%), Textiles, wearing apparel and footwear (-11.0%), Office, computer and communication equipment and material (-5.8%) and Books, newspapers, magazines and stationery (-5.7%) and Furniture and household appliances (-2.4%).

The sectors of sales: Pharmaceuticals, medical and orthopedic articles and toiletries (3.0%) and Hypermarket, supermarket, food products, beverages and tobacco (3.1%), Fuels and lubricants (8.7%) exceeded the results of April 2022.

In extended retail, whereas Vehicles and motorcycles, parts and pieces (-1.9%) and Construction material (-7.6%) dropped, the sector of wholesale of food products, beverages ans tobacco increased by 14.5% in April 2023 against the same period last year.

Sales grow in 16 Federation Units

Against the previous month, retail trade registered positive results in 16 of the 27 Federation Units, mainly the increases registered by Paraíba (3.6%), Pernambuco (2.3%) and the Federal District (2.0%). The other 11 Federation Units had negative results, with the most significant decreases coming from Espírito Santo (-4.3%), Amapá (-1.2%) and Paraná (-1.1%).

Also from March to April, as for extended retail trade, there were negative results in 17 Federation Units, mainly in Mato Grosso do Sul (-7.3%), Rondônia (-5.1%) and Paraná (-5.1%). Ten Federation Units recorded positive results: Bahia (4.8%), Minas Gerais (4.0%) and Maranhão (3.5%) stood out.

More about the survey

PMC produces indicators to monitor the short-term behavior of retail trade in Brazil, investigating the gross revenue of formal enterprises with 20 or more employed persons and whose major activity is retail trade.

Having started in 1995, the PMC brings monthly results of changes in sales volume and nominal revenue for retail trade and extended retail trade (cars and construction material) for Brazil and Federation Units. The results are available at Sidra.