[NBS: H1 Total Retail Sales of Consumer Goods and Services Up 2.7% YoY]

Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that in H1, total retail sales of consumer goods and services were up 2.7% YoY, of which service retail sales grew 5.3% and goods retail sales grew 1.1%. Within service retail sales, rapid growth was seen in categories such as telecommunications and information services, tourism consulting and leasing services, and cultural, sports, and leisure services.

In H1, total retail sales of consumer goods reached 24,872.2 billion yuan, up 1.3% YoY. By location, urban retail sales of consumer goods stood at 21,550.6 billion yuan, up 1.2% YoY, while rural retail sales were 3,321.6 billion yuan, up 2.5% YoY. By consumption type, retail sales of goods were 22,046.7 billion yuan, up 1.1% YoY, and catering revenue was 2,825.5 billion yuan, up 2.8% YoY. Sales of daily necessities and some upgraded goods grew rapidly, with retail sales of grain, oil and foodstuffs, clothing, footwear, hats and textiles, and communication equipment by businesses above the designated size up 7.4%, 6.7%, and 14.4% YoY, respectively.

In June, total retail sales of consumer goods amounted to 4,269.1 billion yuan, up 1.0% YoY, following a 0.6% decline in the previous month, and up 0.38% MoM. In H1, national online retail sales of goods and services reached 10,071.5 billion yuan, up 5.2% YoY. Of this, online retail sales of goods were 6,429.6 billion yuan, up 4.8% YoY, while online service retail sales were 3,641.9 billion yuan, up 6.0% YoY.