South Korea’s retail sales jumped to three-month high in April on spike in demand from the apparel sector out of the discount store goods, final government data showed Sunday.
Combined sales at Hyundai Department Store, Lotte Shopping and Shinsegae rose 4.3 percent in April, accelerating from a 0.3 percent growth in the year ago period, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said. This was however, the best performance since a 9.0 percent jump in January, the government report showed.
Retail sales rose as the nation witnessed an extra public holiday during mid-April due to the parliamentary elections, underpinned by a warmer-than-usual weather, the Trade Ministry said.
Sales of well known foreign brands surged the most among others, rising 8.6 percent on-year in April as the average daily high temperature last month touched 20.3 degrees Celsius, up from 18.8 degrees last April.
Meanwhile, preliminary data from the Ministry of Trade had shown that April department sales would rise 8.0 percent y/y while discount store sales would move up by 0.2 percent.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com