The Northern Territory has posted the biggest decline in retail trade turnover in the country, with 1.8 per cent decline for October, another indication that Territory households continue to feel the stress of rapid inflation and mounting interest rates.

“The October fall in retail turnover ends a run of nine straight monthly rises and suggests increased cost of living pressures including interest rate rises have started to weigh on consumer spending,” Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) head of retail Ben Dorber said.

Nationally, retail turnover fell across industries for the month except for food retail, which rose 0.4 per cent due to flood-related spending in some parts of the country and the sustained high prices of food.

The period in review saw the country’s department stores recording the steepest fall, down 2.4 per cent, followed by clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing, down 0.6 per cent.

Household goods retailing fell for the second consecutive month, down 0.5 per cent, the fifth fall in the last seven months.

Cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services across the country recorded their first decline since January this year, down 0.4 per cent and other retailing fell 0.2 per cent.

ABS data shows that surging prices coupled with the tightening monetary policy has already dampened consumer sentiment, which was also affected by the return of overseas travel which threatens to shift more spending overseas.

Tasmania posted the second biggest drop in retail turnover with a decrease of 1.7 per cent; the Australian Capital Territory, down 1.4 per cent; Queensland, 0.4 per cent; New South Wales, 0.1 per cent; and Victoria, which recorded a drop of 0.1 per cent.

“Elevated post-lockdown demand and price increases had boosted sales throughout the year in cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services. A slowdown in growth in recent months, capped off by the fall in October, shows trading conditions continued to normalize,” Mr Dorber said.