Philippine retail sales in the Philippines increased 1.6 per cent in April 2016 over the same month in 2015, based on data from the National Statistics Office, showing shoppers were not distracted by the election campaign.

Retail sales growth year-on-year in the country averaged 7.8 per cent from 1980 until 2016, reaching an all time high of 79.5 per cent in September 1984 and a record low of -3.1 per cent in November 1999.

By the end of second quarter, retail sales are projected to be up 0.8 per cent, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations.

“Looking forward, we estimate retail sales year-over-year in [the] Philippines to stand at 2.2 per cent in 12 months time. In the long-term, the Philippine retail sales year-over-year is projected to trend around 3 per cent in 2020, according to our econometric models,” said Trading Economics in July.