China's retail sales down 1.1% to $463b in July

Goods saw positive growth for the first time, but the catering sector remained weak.

The total retail sales of consumer goods in China dipped 1.1% YoY to $463.33b (RMB3.22t) in July, a 0.7ppt narrower decline from June, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics of China. On a MoM basis, retail sales edged up 0.85%.

In the first seven months, the total retail sales of consumer goods fell 9.9% YoY to $2.94t (RMB20.45t) yuan, narrowing 1.5ppt over the first six months. Sales in urban areas declined 1.1% to $403.21b (RMB2.8t) yuan in June, whilst the sales figures in rural areas slipped 1.3% to $60.11b (RMB417.8b).

The income generated by the catering sector slipped 11% to $47.24b (CNY328.2b), whilst sales of goods climbed 0.2% to $416.29b (CNY2.89t), shifting from negative to positive for the first time this year.

The sales of goods for basic living grew fast, with figures for the beverage, grain, oil and food and articles for daily use rose 10.7%, 6.9% and 6.9% YoY, respectively. At the same time, upgraded consumer goods continued to grow with sales of automobiles jumping 12.3%, whilst communication equipment and cosmetics expanded 11.3% and 9.2%, respectively.

The online retail sales continued to improve, rising 9% YoY to $874.98b (CNY6.08t) in the first seven months, 1.7ppt faster than that of the first six months. Of the total, sales of physical goods leapt 15.7%, 1.4ppt faster than the first six months.