South Africa's retail sales rose by 4.2% year-on-year in May 2025, following an upwardly revised 5.2% advance in the prior month and slightly below market forecasts of a 4.4% growth. The largest positive contributors were retailers in textiles, clothing, footwear, and leather goods (+12.5%, contributing 2.1 percentage points) and general dealers (+3.6%, contributing 1.6 percentage points). On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, retail sales rose by 0.1% in May, after an upwardly revised 1.1% increase in the prior month. Retail trade sales increased by 3.5% in the three months ended May 2025 compared with the three months ended May 2024.