China Retail Sales Grow More than Expected

2026-03-16 02:28 By Czyrill Jean Coloma 1 min. read

China's retail sales rose 2.8% year-on-year in the first two months of 2026, accelerating from a 0.9% gain in December and exceeding market expectations of a 2.5% rise.

This marked the strongest growth since last October, partly boosted by the Lunar New Year holiday in mid-February.

The extended holiday fueled a steady surge in consumer spending nationwide, from hotel reservations to duty-free purchases.

Sales increased sharply for grains, oil, and food products (10.2% vs 3.9% in December) and clothing, footwear, and textiles (10.4% vs 0.6%).

Trade also rebounded for home appliances and audio-visual equipment (3.3% vs -18.7%) and tobacco and alcohol (19.1% vs -2.9%), while it declined moderately for petroleum and related products (-9.7% vs -11%).

Meanwhile, sales continued to fall for automobiles (-7.3% vs -5%).

China merges retail sales data for January and February to account for the varying timing of the Lunar New Year each year, ensuring a more consistent and accurate comparison.



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China Retail Sales Grow More than Expected
China's retail sales rose 2.8% year-on-year in the first two months of 2026, accelerating from a 0.9% gain in December and exceeding market expectations of a 2.5% rise. This marked the strongest growth since last October, partly boosted by the Lunar New Year holiday in mid-February. The extended holiday fueled a steady surge in consumer spending nationwide, from hotel reservations to duty-free purchases. Sales increased sharply for grains, oil, and food products (10.2% vs 3.9% in December) and clothing, footwear, and textiles (10.4% vs 0.6%). Trade also rebounded for home appliances and audio-visual equipment (3.3% vs -18.7%) and tobacco and alcohol (19.1% vs -2.9%), while it declined moderately for petroleum and related products (-9.7% vs -11%). Meanwhile, sales continued to fall for automobiles (-7.3% vs -5%). China merges retail sales data for January and February to account for the varying timing of the Lunar New Year each year, ensuring a more consistent and accurate comparison.
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China Retail Sales Hit 3-Year Low
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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China’s retail sales rose 1.3% year-on-year in November 2025, easing from October figures and market estimates of 2.9%. It marked the slowest yearly rise since December 2022 despite ongoing consumer subsidy programs from Beijing. Sales eased for grains, oil, and food (6.1% vs 9.1% in October), sports and entertainment goods (0.4% vs 10.1%), clothing, shoes, hats, and textiles (3.5% vs 6.3%), cosmetics (6.1% vs 9.6%), gold, silver, and jewelry (8.5% vs 37.6%), office supplies (11.7% vs 13.5%), and communication equipment (20.6% vs 23.2%). At the same time, turnover fell further for household appliances and audio-visual equipment (-19.4% vs -14.6%), cars (-8.3% vs -6.6%), building materials (-17.0% vs -8.3%), and petroleum products (-8.0% vs -5.9%). Also, turnover of personal care fell 0.8% after increasing 7.4% previously. For the first eleven months of 2025, retail trade increased 4.0% from the same period a year earlier.
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