National retail turnover fell 0.1 per cent in December, seasonally adjusted, following a rise of 0.1 per cent in November 2011.

Retail spending fell 0.1 per cent in Tasmania, seasonally adjusted.

Queensland fell 1.4 per cent, Western Australia 0.7 per cent, New South Wales 0.2 per cent, South Australia 0.7 per cent and the Northern Territory 2.6 per cent.

Turnover rose in Victoria 1.5 per cent and 1.8 per cent in the ACT.

The largest contributor to the fall was food retailing (-0.7%), followed by cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services (-1.8%).

These falls were offset by rises in cothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (3.5%), department stores (1.1%) and household goods retailing (0.2%).

In trend terms, turnover rose 0.2 per cent in December 2011. This follows a rise of 0.2 per cent in November 2011 and a rise of 0.2 per cent in October 2011.