DIpil Das
China Retail Sales: June 2022
In June, China's total retail sales growth (ex. food service, incl. automobiles and gasoline) increased by 3.9% year over year, recovering strongly from a decline of 5.0% in May 2022, when widening Covid-19 lockdowns took a heavy toll on consumption.
We anticipate that retail sales will further recover in the coming months with loosening of Covid-19 restrictions in most areas. However, recovery will be slow as the country's property market is in a deep slump and global growth is faltering.
Figure 1. Total China Retail Sales (ex. Food Service; incl. Automobiles and Gasoline): YoY % Change [caption id="attachment_151689" align="aligncenter" width="700"]
January and February figures are reported togetherSource: National Bureau of Statistics/Coresight Research[/caption]
Retail Sales Growth by Sector
All sectors (except furniture and construction and decoration) witnessed year-over-year sales increase in June 2022, as overall retail sales accelerated considerably from May 2022.
- Auto retailers performed strongly in June, growing 13.9% year over year—a stark contrast from May’s (16.0)% year-over-year growth, as the sales of passenger vehicles jumped significantly in June 2022.
- The food sector continues to perform strongly in June, with 9.0% growth year over year whereas the beverage sector saw sales growth of 1.9% year over year.
- The alcohol and tobacco sector witnessed improvement with year-over-year sales growth of 5.1% in June 2022.
- In June 2022, school, office supplies and computers specialists posted positive sales growth of 8.9% year over year, up from a 3.3% decline in May 2022.
- The apparel and footwear sector witnessed positive improvement in sales with growth of 1.2% in June 2022, compared to a 16.2% decline in May 2022.
- Gold, silver and jewelry retailers witnessed robust increases in sales with growth of 8.1% year over year.
- Furniture specialists’ sales continue to decline in June but improved from sales declines in May 2022. Furniture sales declined by 6.6% year over year in June, up from May’s 12.2% sales decline.
- The beauty sector recovered strongly with sales growth of 8.1% year over year in June 2022, as more consumers continue to return to workplaces and social outings following the easing of Covid-19 restrictions.
- Construction and decoration sales decreased by 4.9% compared to June 2021 due to the downturn in the housing market.
- Communication equipment retailers’ sales increased by 6.6% year over year.
Figure 2. China Retail Sales (ex. Food Service; incl. Gasoline and Automobiles), by Sector: YoY% Change [wpdatatable id=2128]
The sector breakdown is based on surveys from enterprises with annual sales of ¥5 million (around $730,000) and above Source: National Bureau of Statistics
Online Retail Sales Account for 34.6% of All Retail Sales
In June, online retail sales in China grew 23.1% year over year. The channel accounted for 34.6% of total retail sales in the period, up from May 2022’s online penetration of 32.5%. Online penetration in June remains strong, due to the influence of Covid-19 induced lockdowns in many regions of the country.
Online retail sales include food service, as the National Bureau of Statistics does not provide online data that exclude food service. In Figure 3, online sales are benchmarked to total retail sales.
Figure 3. Online Retail Sales (YoY % Change) as a Proportion of Total Retail Sales (%) (incl. Automobiles, Gas and Food Service) [caption id="attachment_151690" align="aligncenter" width="700"]
Online retail sales include food serviceJanuary and February figures are reported together
Source: National Bureau of Statistics[/caption]