Macau Retail Sales Rebound in Q1

Retail sales in Macau rose 23% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, rebounding from a 0.1% decline in the previous three-month period. It was the strongest growth in retail activity since the fourth quarter of 2023, boosted by increases in sales for communication equipment (+88.6%) and watches, clocks and jewelry (+11.2%). Moreover, sale also increased for cosmetics and sanitary articles (+29.1%), adults’ clothing (+22.0%) and leather goods (+23.8%). Meanwhile, sales for supermarkets and automotive fuels declined 5.4% and 3.2%, respectively. On a quarterly basis, retail trade increased 16.5% year-on-year in Q1 of 2026.

Retail sales in Macau edged down 0.1% year-on-year in the last quarter of 2025, following a 0.8% gain in the previous period which was the first rise in about two years. Sales declined the most for auto fuels (-12%), supermarkets (-9.7%), motor vehicles (-8.8%), pharmacies (-8.5%) and department stores (-5.4%). On the other hand, retail sales jumped for communication equipment (43.9%) and cosmetics & sanitary articles (12.1%). Considering full 2025, retail sales declined 5.9%, with sales of leather goods falling 8.4%.

Retail sales in Macau rose 0.8% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2025, rebounding from a consecutive decline since Q1 2024. The rebound was driven by faster growth in department stores (9.1% vs 5.7% in Q2 2025), pharmacies (11.3% vs 10.4%), cosmetics & sanitary articles (28.9% vs 0.2%), and a recovery in leather goods (3.6% vs -0.2%). Offsetting these gains, sales fell further in motor vehicles (-28.2% vs -3.6%), supermarkets (-1.3% vs -0.4%), Chinese food products (-2.9% vs -2.2%), and automotive fuels (-19.9% vs -2.2%), while adult clothing reversed to a decline (-4.9% vs 7.3%). On a quarterly basis, retail sales rose 6.0%, following a revised 10.0% drop in the previous quarter. For the first three quarters of 2025, sales were down 7.5% compared with the same period a year earlier.