Monthly Survey of Trade
After growing for three months, retail registers -0.4% in April
June 12, 2025 09h00 AM | Last Updated: June 13, 2025 02h40 PM
Hypermarkets, supermarkets, food products, beverages and tobacco retreated 0.8% over March - Picture: Licia Rubinstein
Between March and April, retail trade sales in Brazil changed -0.4%, which is considered a stable index, after three consecutive months of growth that led retail to hit its record level in March. As a result, the quarterly moving average was 0.3% in the quarter ended in April. Compared with April 2024, volume of sales rose 4.8%. The indicator of the last 12 months gained 3.4% and the cumulative index in the year, 2.1%. In the extended retail trade, which also includes the activities of vehicles, motorcycles, parts and pieces, construction material and wholesale of food products, beverages and tobacco, volume of sales dropped 1.9% over March. The data are from the Monthly Survey of Trade (PMC), released today (12) by the IBGE.
The stability is mostly explained by the results of March, when the index hit the peak in the time series started in January 2000. "It is decelerating, after three months of growth. The base effect influenced, as the previous level was a record. It is much more difficult to rise," clarifies Cristiano Santos, Manager of the Monthly Survey of Trade.
Positive and negative rates were balanced in the activities surveyed. The negative rates were due to Fuels and lubricants (-1.7%), Office, computer and communication equipment and material (-1.3%), Hyper and supermarket, food products, beverages and tobacco (-0.8%) and Furniture and domestic appliances (-0.3%).
The losses in the sector of hypermarkets and supermarkets stand out as it is the activity with the highest weight, comprising more than half of the index. In addition, it grew in the first months of the year, increasing the comparison basis. "Trade is very focused on family budgets," comments Santos. "Families need to distribute their budget between trade, services, a possible saving or to pay a debt. And there is the inflation factor, since, even with the drop of the inflation as a whole, food inflation increased, directly reflecting in the sector of hypermarkets and supermarkets."
On the other hand, the positive figures between March and April 2025 were due to Books, newspapers, magazines and stationery (1.6%), Other articles of personal and domestic use (1.0%), Fabric, apparel and footwear (0.6%) and Pharmaceutical, medical, orthopedic articles and toiletries (0.2%). Even after the growth of 28.2% in March, the book sector remains rising due to textbooks.
Five retail activities grew over April last year
In relation to April 2024, volume of sales of the retail trade grew 4.8%, with five out of eight sectors surveyed rising: Other articles of personal and domestic use (10.9%), Fabric, apparel and footwear (7.8%), Hyper and supermarket, food products, beverages and tobacco (6.4%), Pharmaceutical, medical, orthopedic articles and toiletries (1.9%) and Furniture and domestic appliances (0.7%).
The drops were due to Office, computer and communication equipment and material (-5.2%), Books, newspapers, magazines and stationery (-3.8%) and Fuels and lubricants (-1.9%).
In the extended retail all the three additional activities registered negative figures: Vehicles, motorcycles, parts and pieces (-7.1%), Construction material (-2.7%) and Wholesale of food products, beverages and tobacco (-2.4%). It is the biggest drop in the sector of vehicles since July 2022. As explained by Santos, however, that drop was also due to the fast expansion of this activity in the first months of the year. "Now it is retreating. It is like having had a period of stronger marketing strategies to boost sales, and then comes the retreat." The result of that sector in April was the biggest negative contribution among 11 sectors of the extended retail, reaching -1.4 p.p. out of the total of 0.8%.
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. Results can be accessed on Sidra. The next PMC release, with the results for May 2025, will be on July 8.
