Rio de Janeiro, November 14 (EFE) .- Retail sales increased by 6.4% in September, compared to the same month in 2016, the highest increase since April 2014, driven by the increase in supermarket sales, as reported today by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).

The increase recorded in the last year contrasts with the accumulated of 2017, from January to September, which shows that retail trade rose by just 1.3%, according to the Monthly Research on Commerce (PMC) -by its Portuguese acronyms- of the IBGE.

activities that contributed most to the growth of retail trade in the last year were the hypermarkets, food products, beverages and tobacco (6%), supermarkets (6.3%), furniture and household appliances (16.6%) and textile sector (11.7%).

By contrast, the sectors that had a negative impact on retail sales were the books, newspapers, magazines and stationery (-6.4%), fuel (-4.1%) and equipment and equipment for office, computer and communication (-3%).

Regarding the variation In September, retail trade showed an increase of 0.5% compared to the previous month, a volume that compensates for the drop of 0.4% recorded in August and which interrupted the expansion of retail sales for four consecutive months.