Retail sales of consumer goods increased by 34.2% in March 2021 compared with 12.9% in March 2019.

In March, retail sales of consumer goods totaled 3.5484 trillion yuan, an increase of 34.2 percent over the same period last year, an increase of 12.9 percent over March 2019, with an average two-year growth rate of 6.3 percent. Of this total, retail sales of consumer goods other than automobiles totaled 3.1554 trillion yuan, up 32.5%. After deducting the price factor, the total volume of retail sales of consumer goods in March 2021 increased by 33% in real terms, with an average growth rate of 4.4% in two years. On a month-on-month basis, retail sales of consumer goods increased by 1.75% in March.

From January to March, retail sales of consumer goods totaled 10.5221 trillion yuan, an increase of 33.9 percent over the same period last year, with an average two-year growth rate of 4.2 percent, and a seasonally adjusted increase of 1.86 percent from October to December last year. Of this total, retail sales of consumer goods other than cars totaled 9.4612 trillion yuan, an increase of 31.2 percent.

According to the location of the business unit, in March, retail sales of consumer goods in cities and towns totaled 3.0794 trillion yuan, an increase of 34.0 percent over the same period last year, with an average growth of 6.2 percent in two years, while retail sales of rural consumer goods totaled 469 billion yuan, an increase of 34.9 percent, with an average growth of 7.1 percent in two From January to March, retail sales of consumer goods in cities and towns totaled 9.1345 trillion yuan, an increase of 34.6 percent over the same period last year, with an average growth of 4.3 percent in two years, while retail sales of rural consumer goods totaled 1.3875 trillion yuan, up 29.4 percent, with an average growth of 3.2 percent in two years.

According to the type of consumption, in March, retail sales totaled 3.1974 trillion yuan, an increase of 29.9 percent over the same period last year, with an average growth of 6.9 percent in two years; and catering income was 351.1 billion yuan, an increase of 91.6 percent, with an average growth of 0.9 percent in two years. From January to March, retail sales totaled 9.4625 trillion yuan, an increase of 30.4 percent over the same period last year, with an average increase of 4.8 percent in two years, while catering revenue totaled 1.0596 trillion yuan, up 75.8 percent, with an average decline of 1.0 percent in two years.

According to the retail sector, from January to March, the retail sales of supermarkets, convenience stores, department stores, professional stores and specialty stores in retail units above the limit increased by 7.2%, 26.8%, 47%, 40% and 62.7% respectively compared with the same period last year.

From January to March, online retail sales nationwide totaled 2.8093 trillion yuan, an increase of 29.9 percent over the same period last year and an average growth rate of 13.5 percent in two years. Among them, the online retail sales of physical goods totaled 2.3067 trillion yuan, up 25.8 percent, with an average growth of 15.4 percent in two years, accounting for 21.9 percent of the total retail sales of social consumer goods. Food, clothing and consumer goods increased by 30.5%, 39.6% and 21.4% respectively, with an average increase of 31.6%, 8.9% and 15.6% in two years.