Westfield shopping centres managed by Scentre Group – of which there are 42 across Australia and New Zealand – recorded $36.7 billion in sales in just one year.

Managing four out of New Zealand’s five busiest shopping centres, and seven of Australia’s 10, Scentre Group said its sales for the year ending March 31 rose by 5 per cent on the year prior.

Sales in New Zealand grew by 3.8 per cent, and all states of Australia recorded growth across the year.

“Our strategy to grow the economic activity that occurs at each of our destinations continues to deliver, with customer visitation growing across all regions,” Scentre Group CEO Elliott Rusanow said.

The fastest-growing named product category was health and beauty, at 9.1 per cent. Footwear sales declined by 3.17 per cent across the group’s portfolio.

Adding 4.9 million visitors in a year to reach 160 million, Scentre Group said it is keeping its positive forecast, while acknowledging the “geopolitical volatility” of the current day.

Rusanow said retail space across Westfield locations remained in high demand, with an occupancy rate of 99.8 per cent at the end of the year. Scentre Group added that it completed 636 leasing deals over the period.