id: RT
name: Retail Trade (Historical Series, Apr 1982 → Jun 2025)
description: |
  ⚠️ HISTORICAL SERIES — ABS ceased the Retail Trade publication on
  31 July 2025. Data ends June 2025 reference period. For current
  retail/consumer spending, the replacement is the Monthly Household
  Spending Indicator (MHSI, ABS dataflow `HSI_M`).

  43+ years of monthly Australian retail sales by industry and state —
  the longest continuous retail time series ABS has published. Useful
  for trend analysis (post-COVID recovery, 1990s recession recovery,
  GFC impact on department stores), regression backtests, and any
  analyst comparing today's consumer-spending dynamics to historical
  cycles. Series back to April 1982 for total Australia and most
  state splits; some sub-industry breakdowns start later.

  ABS dataflow `RT` (formerly catalogue 8501.0). Defaults to total
  retail (all industries), seasonally adjusted, Australia-wide,
  monthly cadence. Override `industry`, `region`, `adjustment`, or
  `measure` for finer slices.
update_frequency: ceased_jul_2025
source_url: https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/industry/retail-and-wholesale-trade/retail-trade-australia
search_keywords: [retail trade, retail sales, retail spending, retail turnover, consumer spending, household spending, retail growth, supermarket sales, department stores, online retail, retail by state, "8501.0"]
dimensions:
  measure:
    sdmx_id: MEASURE
    description: What is being measured
    values:
      current_prices: { sdmx_code: "M1", description: "Current Prices ($m)" }
      current_prices_pct_change: { sdmx_code: "M2", description: "Current Prices, % change from previous period" }
      chain_volume: { sdmx_code: "M3", description: "Chain Volume Measures ($m, reference-year prices, excludes inflation)" }
      chain_volume_pct_change: { sdmx_code: "M4", description: "Chain Volume Measures, % change from previous period" }
  industry:
    sdmx_id: INDUSTRY
    description: Retail industry category (defaults to all retail combined)
    values:
      total:                                   { sdmx_code: "20" }
      food:                                    { sdmx_code: "41", description: "Food retailing" }
      supermarket_grocery:                     { sdmx_code: "01", description: "Supermarket and grocery stores" }
      liquor:                                  { sdmx_code: "02", description: "Liquor retailing" }
      other_specialised_food:                  { sdmx_code: "03", description: "Other specialised food retailing" }
      household_goods:                         { sdmx_code: "42", description: "Household goods retailing" }
      furniture_floor:                         { sdmx_code: "04", description: "Furniture, floor coverings, houseware and textile goods retailing" }
      electrical_electronic:                   { sdmx_code: "05", description: "Electrical and electronic goods retailing" }
      hardware_building:                       { sdmx_code: "06", description: "Hardware, building and garden supplies retailing" }
      clothing_footwear_accessories:           { sdmx_code: "43", description: "Clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing" }
      clothing:                                { sdmx_code: "07", description: "Clothing retailing" }
      footwear_accessories:                    { sdmx_code: "08", description: "Footwear and other personal accessory retailing" }
      department_stores:                       { sdmx_code: "44", description: "Department stores" }
      other_retailing:                         { sdmx_code: "45", description: "Other retailing" }
      cafes_restaurants_takeaway:              { sdmx_code: "46", description: "Cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services" }
  region:
    sdmx_id: REGION
    description: Australian state/territory (defaults to whole-of-Australia)
    values:
      australia: { sdmx_code: "AUS" }
      nsw: { sdmx_code: "1" }
      vic: { sdmx_code: "2" }
      qld: { sdmx_code: "3" }
      sa:  { sdmx_code: "4" }
      wa:  { sdmx_code: "5" }
      tas: { sdmx_code: "6" }
      nt:  { sdmx_code: "7" }
      act: { sdmx_code: "8" }
  adjustment:
    sdmx_id: TSEST
    description: Time-series treatment (defaults to seasonally adjusted)
    hidden: true
    default: "20"
  frequency:
    sdmx_id: FREQ
    hidden: true
    default: "M"
