Total Retail Sales of Consumer Goods Went down by 15.8 percent in March 2020

In March, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 2,645 billion yuan, down 15.8 percent year-on-year (the actual decline was 18.1 percent, after deducting the price factor. The following are nominal growth except for special instructions), and the pace of decline narrowed 4.7 percentage points over January and February. Among them, the retail sales of consumer goods excluding automobiles reached 2,384.1 billion yuan, down 15.6 percent.

From January to March, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 7,858 billion yuan, down 19.0 percent year on year. Among them, the retail sales of consumer goods excluding automobiles reached 7,225.4 billion yuan, down 17.7 percent

In terms of different consumption patterns, the catering services in the first two months gained 419.4 billion yuan, dropped by 43.1 percent year-on-year. The retail sales of goods reached 4,793.6 billion yuan, decreased by 17.6 percent.

According to the location of business units, in March, the retail sales of urban consumer goods were 2,297.4 billion yuan, down 15.9 percent year-on-year, 4.8 percentage points lower than that in January and  February; the retail sales of rural consumer goods were 347.6 billion yuan, down 15.1 percent, 3.9 percentage points lower than that in January and February. From January to March, the retail sales of urban consumer goods reached 6,785.5 billion yuan, down 19.1 percent year on year; the retail sales of rural consumer goods reached 1,072.5 billion yuan, down 17.7 percent.

According to consumption types, in March, the retail sales of goods reached 2,461.8 billion yuan, down 12.0 percent year-on-year, 5.6 percentage points lower than that from January to February; the catering revenue reached 183.2 billion yuan, down 46.8 percent, 3.7 percentage points higher than that from January to February. From January to March, the retail sales of commodities reached 7,255.3 billion yuan, down 15.8 percent year on year; the catering revenue reached 602.6 billion yuan, down 44.3 percent.

According to the retail format, from January to March, the retail sales of supermarkets in retail enterprises above designated size increased by 1.9 percent year on year, while that of department stores, specialty stores and specialty stores decreased by 34.9, 24.7 and 28.7 percent respectively.

From January to March, the national online retail sales reached 2,216.9 billion yuan, down 0.8 percent year on year, 2.2 percentage points lower than that from January to February. Among them, the online retail sales of physical goods reached 1,853.6 billion yuan, an increase of 5.9 percent, accounting for 23.6 percent of the total retail sales of social consumer goods; among the online retail sales of physical goods, food and consumer goods increased by 32.7 and 10.0 percent, respectively, while clothing goods decreased by 15.1 percent.

Notes:

1.The growth rate in this table are all nominal growth rate.

2.For parts of data, the total is not equal to the total of sub-items due to round-off.

Annotations:

1. Revision Description

According to the results of the fourth national economic census, the total retail sales of consumer goods in 2019 have been revised, and the growth rate from January to February 2020 is calculated according to the comparable caliber.

2. Explanatory Notes

Total Retail Sales of Consumer Goods: refers to the sales of physical commodity or the income of catering services sold or provided by enterprises (units) to individuals, social organizations for non-production and non-operation purposes.

Online Retail Sales: refers to the sales of goods and services got through public online trading platform (including self-built websites and third-party platform). Goods and services include physical goods and non-physical goods (such as virtual product, services). 

The total retail sales of consumer goods include online retail sales of physical goods, excludes online retail sales of non-physical goods.

3. Statistical Coverage

The corporate enterprises, industrial activity units or self-employed individuals which retail goods or provide catering services. Enterprises (units) above designated size refer to those wholesale enterprises (units) with an annual revenue from primary business of 20 million yuan and above, those retail enterprises (units) with an annual revenue from primary business of 5 million yuan and above, and those hotel and catering enterprises (units) with an annual revenue from primary business of 2 million yuan and above.

As the scope of wholesale and retail enterprises, accommodation and catering enterprises (units) above the designated size changes every year, the same period used to calculate the growth rate of retail sales per unit of consumer goods above the designated size is consistent with the statistical range of enterprises (units) in this period, and there is a caliber difference from the data released last year in order to ensure that the current year's data are comparable with the previous years. The main reasons are as follows: (1) some enterprises (units) reach the designated size and are included in the scope of the investigation every year, at the same time, some enterprises (units) withdraw from the scope of the investigation because their scale is smaller than the designated size, and there are also the effects of newly opened enterprises, bankruptcy, note (revocation) enterprises (units). (2) The monthly report of 2019, combined with the results of the fourth national economic census unit inventory (August-December 2018), re-verifies and identifies the units above the designated size at the end of 2018. Enterprises (units) that fail to meet the standard are included in the scope of the unit survey below the designated size

4. Survey Methods

All enterprises (units) above designated size are surveyed, while the data of enterprises (units) below designated size are collected by sampling survey.

5. Month-on-Month Figure Revision

According to the auto-revision function of the seasonal adjustment model, the growth rate of the total retail sales of consumer goods since February 2019 was revised. The revised figures and figures in January and February 2020 are as follows:

6. In order to eliminate the influence of the uncertain factors of the Spring Festival date and enhance the comparability of the data, according to the national statistical system, the data from January to February of each year are investigated and released together.