Retail sales change 0.1% in May; in the year, the increase is 1.8%, says IBGE

Sales in the Brazilian retail trade changed 0.1% in May compared to April, informed the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) this Wednesday (13). It is the fifth consecutive rate in the positive field.

With this, the sector is 6% above the lowest level in recent months, which was in December 2021. In the year, retail accumulates growth of 1.8% and in the last 12 months, a drop of 0.4%.

“This result shows a scenario of stability from April to May. But despite coming from four positive results, the rates were decreasing. We observed a resumption in retail trade, but that comes from a low base, December, and always with a less intense accumulation over these months”, informed the manager of PMC, Cristiano Santos.

Among the eight activities surveyed, six had positive rates in May. The biggest was that of books, newspapers, magazines and stationery, with an increase of 5.5% in the month.

In terms of influence, the IBGE highlights the sectors of pharmaceutical, medical, orthopedic and perfumery items (3.6%) and textiles, clothing and footwear (3.5%) on the positive side. Furniture and household appliances (-3.0%) and other articles for personal and domestic use (-2.2%) had negative rates.

“Furniture and appliances is an activity that has not surpassed its pre-pandemic level, as throughout 2021 it had considerable losses. During the pandemic, these items had an important gain due to the substitutions that people made due to the fact that they were more at home. After this extraordinary demand, these products started to have less importance in the family budget, especially home appliances”, analyzes the PMC manager.

He points out that, in the pharmaceutical sector, volume growth was anchored in the pharmaceutical industry, and less in the perfumery segment. “This is already the second consecutive month of high, and it coincides with the readjustments of the sector, in the months of April and May”, he said.

“In the case of apparel and footwear, we had a few months of growth especially linked to the sports shoes and sneakers sector, with every month with positive variations”, adds Santos.

Impacts of inflation

According to the IBGE, other highlights are the sectors that suffered the impact of inflation. The institute says there was a 0.4% increase in revenue versus a 0.1% change in volume, a difference that already signals retail inflation in general. In some sectors the inflationary impact was verified with greater intensity.

“The biggest example is the supermarket sector, which from April to May grew 1% in volume and 4.1% in revenue, that is, four times more, signaling mainly food inflation”, completes the PMC manager.

In the expanded retail trade, which includes, in addition to retail, vehicles and construction materials, both activities are also impacted by inflation. Vehicles and motorcycles, parts and pieces, showed a negative change of 0.2%, while construction material fell by 1.1% from April to May 2022.

Regional results

From April to May, the retail trade showed positive results in 18 of the 27 Federation Units, with emphasis on Minas Gerais (3.6%), Rio Grande do Sul (3.1%) and Roraima (3.1% ). In the negative field, the institute says that there are 9 of the 27 units of the federation, especially Rondônia (-2.8%), Rio Grande do Norte (-2.3%) and Tocantins (-2.1%).

For the same comparison, in the expanded retail trade, the change between April and May 2022 was 0.2%, with positive results in 15 of the 27 Federation Units.