Today’s figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed that in the year to November 2017, Victorians spent a record $78.9 billion on retail sales.

Victoria’s retail sales increased by 4.9 per cent over the year which compared to a national increase of just 2.9 per cent.

For the month of November, Victorian retail sales came in at $6.8 billion, more than a quarter of total Australian retail sales for the month and underlining the strength of Victoria’s economy and our jobs growth.

Driving growth in the month was ‘other retailing’ (which includes pharmaceutical and recreational goods), department stores, and household goods.

The ‘cafes, restaurants and takeaway food’ subsector grew by 1.6 per cent in the month, and 4.8 per cent over the year to November, both stronger than the national average.

These results follow news this week that Victoria recorded the strongest growth in building approvals across the nation in November – a 28.5 per cent boost – bolstering housing supplies and making an important contribution to the State’s economy.