Commercial sales change 0.2% in September; IBGE shows stability

Retail sales changed 0.2% from August to September. The performance means that the sector shows a decline of -0.3% in the third quarter, compared to the second.

In the last 12 months, the sector grew 1.7%. The data is part of the Monthly Trade Survey (PMC), released this Friday (13) by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).

Although the result from August to September was positive, the survey manager, Cristiano Santos, signals that the performance should be seen as “stability”.

The quarterly moving average, an indicator that shows behavioral trends, reveals that the three-month period ending in September varied -0.1% compared to the moving quarter until August.

"Any variation between -0.5% and +0.5% is a result too close to zero to be interpreted as growth or decline. Therefore, in these last two months we see a scenario of stability, but preceded by decline."

He remembers that the current stability was preceded by a fall. “We had concentrated growth in the first quarter and, after that, a decline or stability.

See the behavior of trade throughout 2026, comparing immediately consecutive months:

January: 0.5%

February: 0.7%

March: 0.5%

April: -1.1%

May: 0.2%

June: 0.3%

July: -0.8%

August: 0.2%

September: 0.2%

At the current level, trade is 1% below the highest point ever reached, in March 2026. For Santos, there is “accumulation of sales volume at a high level”.

Activities

Of the eight groups of activities surveyed by IBGE, five showed positive changes in September compared to August:

Office, IT and communication equipment and supplies: 7.6%

Fuels and lubricants: 2.8%

Fabrics, clothing and footwear: 2.5%

Pharmaceutical, medical, orthopedic and perfumery articles: 1.0%

Books, newspapers, magazines and stationery: 0.8%.

Furniture and household appliances: -2.6%

Hyper, supermarkets, food products, drinks and tobacco: -0.5%

Other articles for personal and domestic use: -0.3%.

Wholesale

In expanded retail trade, which includes wholesale activities ─ vehicles, motorcycles, parts and pieces; building material; and food products, beverages and tobacco ─ the indicator changed positively by 0.2% from August to September and marked an increase of 1.3% in the 12-month period.

Economic situation

The Monthly Trade Survey is the third of three short-term surveys released monthly by IBGE. In recent days, the institute revealed that the country recorded a decline of 0.8% in industry, from August to September, accumulating a positive variation of 0.2% in 12 months.