Australian retail sales rose a higher-than-expected 1.2% to a seasonally adjusted $20.14bn in January from $19.91bn in December and rose from $19.55bn a year earlier, theAustralian Bureau of Statistics said.
Economists surveyed ahead of the announcement on average had expected a 0.5% rise in sales for January.
Sales had fallen a revised 0.9% in December on month. The bureau said the trend estimate for retail sales rose 0.4% to $20.09bn in January from December.
The trend estimate further smoothes the seasonally adjusted numbers.