Increase in the sale of hardware, paints and glass.

The countries total wholesale and retail trade sales stood at over one billion dollars for the September quarter.

Sales rose by 1.5 percent or $15.3 million dollars when compared to the June quarter.

This was mainly due to increase in the sale of food and non-alcoholic beverages and hardware, paints and glass.

Sales rose by 5.2 percent when compared to the September quarter of 2017.

The Fiji Bureau of Statistic says the survey covers registered businesses engaged in wholesale and retail trade, repair of vehicles and motor cycles.