China's total retail sales of consumer goods in July increased to 2.7%, while automobile retail sales declined by 4.9%

In July, the total retail sales of consumer goods in China increased, with rapid growth in communication equipment, sports and entertainment goods, and grain, oil, and food categories, while consumption of jewelry and cosmetics declined. On Thursday, August 15th, the National Bureau of Statistics announced that in July, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 3.7757 trillion yuan, an increase of 2.7% year-on-year, 0.7 percentage points faster than the previous month. Excluding automobiles, retail sales of consumer goods amounted to 3.3959 trillion yuan, a growth of 3.6%. From January to July, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 27.3726 trillion yuan, an increase of 3.5% year-on-year. Excluding automobiles, retail sales of consumer goods amounted to 24.699 trillion yuan, a growth of 4.0%. In July, the year-on-year growth of retail sales of goods was 2.7%, an increase of 1.2 percentage points from the previous month. By location of operating units, in July, urban retail sales of consumer goods reached 3.2691 trillion yuan, an increase of 2.4% year-on-year; rural retail sales of consumer goods reached 506.6 billion yuan, a growth of 4.6%. From January to July, urban retail sales of consumer goods reached 23.725 trillion yuan, an increase of 3.4%; rural retail sales of consumer goods reached 3.6476 trillion yuan, an increase of 4.5%. By type of consumption, in July, retail sales of goods reached 3.3354 trillion yuan, an increase of 2.7% year-on-year; catering revenue reached 440.3 billion yuan, a growth of 3.0%. Sales of some upgraded goods grew rapidly, with the fastest year-on-year growth in communication equipment above the quota, reaching 12.7%, and sports and entertainment goods as well as grain, oil, and food categories growing at 10.7% and 9.9% respectively. In July, jewelry sales declined by 10.4% year-on-year, cosmetics declined by 6.1%, and clothing, shoes, hats, and textiles declined by 5.2%. From January to July, retail sales of goods reached 24.3079 trillion yuan, an increase of 3.1%; catering revenue reached 3.0647 trillion yuan, a growth of 7.1%. By retail format, from January to July, among retail units above the quota, convenience stores, specialty stores, and supermarkets saw year-on-year growth of 5.2%, 4.5%, and 2.0% respectively; department stores and brand specialty stores saw declines of 3.8% and 1.6% respectively. From January to July, the national online retail sales reached 8.3784 trillion yuan, an increase of 9.5% year-on-year. Among them, physical goods online retail sales reached 7.0093 trillion yuan, a growth of 8.7%, accounting for 25.6% of the total retail sales of consumer goods; within physical goods online retail sales, food, clothing, and daily necessities grew by 19.7%, 6.3%, and 7.5% respectively.