China Retail Sales Hit 3-Year Low

2026-01-19 02:23 By Czyrill Jean Coloma 1 min. read

China's retail sales rose 0.9% year-on-year in December 2025, slowing from a 1.3% increase and missing market expectations of a 1.2% gain.

It marked the weakest growth since December 2022, as a soft jobs market and falling home prices continue to weigh on consumer spending.

Sales growth moderated for grains, oil, and food products (3.9% vs 6.1% in November), clothing, footwear, and textiles (0.6% vs 3.5%), Chinese and Western medicines (1.2% vs 4.9%), and cultural and office supplies (9.2% vs 11.7%).

In addition, petroleum and related products fell 11%, compared with an 8% decrease in the previous month.

On the other hand, communication equipment sales picked up slightly (20.9% vs 20.6%), while declines in automobiles (-5% vs -8.3%), home appliances and audio-visual equipment (-18.7% vs -19.4%), and tobacco and alcohol (-2.9% vs -3.4%) eased.

On a monthly basis, retail sales fell 0.12%, easing from a 0.41% drop in the previous month.



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