Retail and wholesale trade


In this section, analysis is provided for both the Northern Territory's (NT) retail and wholesale trade industries. It explores the current state, performance and activity of each sector. The main retail categories are food, household goods, clothing, footwear and personal accessories, newspaper and books, other recreational goods, pharmaceuticals cosmetics and toiletries, and cafes restaurants and takeaway food. The wholesale industry makes up a significantly smaller share of employment relative to retail trade and relates to industrial storage and equipment, transport and food wholesaling.

Economic contribution | Contribution to employment |  Retail trade | Wholesale trade | Explanatory notes

Retail trade is largely influenced by household expenditure, disposable income and consumer spending habits, which typically follow movements in population, employment, wages and the residential market conditions.

Wholesale trade is the sale of new or used goods to businesses and institutional users, but excludes government users. Activity in the NT’s wholesale trade industry is mainly in industrial storage and equipment, transport and food wholesaling. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) does not publish disaggregated data on wholesale trade by jurisdiction.

Economic contribution

In 2022-23:

Contribution to employment

In 2022-23:

Retail trade

In the year to September quarter 2023  (real terms):

In the year to October 2023 (current terms):

Wholesale trade

In 2022-23:

Explanatory notes