LatinNews Daily - 19 October 2023

* Brazil’s national statistics institute (Ibge) has released the latest figures for the country’s retail sales, which showed a monthly drop in sales volume of 0.2% from July to August. However, the sales volume in August marked a year-on-year increase of 2.3% compared to the same month last year. This latest decrease came after two consecutive months of rises in sales. Brazil’s monthly sales volume has been stable for most of 2023 so far, registering slight increases or decreases of less than 1.0% every month since February. The accumulated sales volume in the 12 months until August 2023 was 1.7% higher than the previous 12-month period. In August this year, four of the eight product categories saw monthly decreases in sales: personal & domestic items (-4.8%); books, newspapers, magazines, & stationery (-3.2%); furniture & household appliances (-2.2%); and fabrics, clothing, & footwear (-0.4%).