Total Retail Sales of Consumer Goods Went down by 2.8 percent in May 2020

In May, the total retail sales of social consumer goods reached 3,197.3 billion yuan, down 2.8 percent year-on-year (3.7 percent of decrease in real terms after deducting the price factor, and the followings are all nominal growth unless specifically explained), a decrease of 4.7 percentage points over the previous month. Among them, the retail sales of consumer goods excluding automobiles reached 2,859.7 billion yuan, down 3.5 percent.

From January to May, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 13,873 billion yuan, down 13.5 percent year on year. Among them, the retail sales of consumer goods excluding automobiles reached 12,594.6 billion yuan, down 13.0 percent.

According to the location of the business unit, in May, the retail sales of urban consumer goods reached 2,788.1 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 2.8 percent, a decrease of 4.7 percentage points over the previous month; the retail sales of rural consumer goods reached 409.2 billion yuan, a decrease of 3.2 percent, a decrease of 4.5 percentage points over the previous month. From January to May, the retail sales of urban consumer goods reached 12,029.4 billion yuan, down 13.5 percent year on year; the retail sales of rural consumer goods reached 1,843.7 billion yuan, down 13.0 percent.

According to consumption types, in May, the retail sales of goods reached 2,895.9 billion yuan, down 0.8 percent year on year, 3.8 percentage points lower than that of last month; the catering revenue reached 301.3 billion yuan, down 18.9 percent, 12.2 percentage points lower than that of last month. From January to May, the retail sales of commodities reached 12,738.4 billion yuan, down 10.6 percent year on year; the catering revenue reached 1,134.6 billion yuan, down 36.5 percent.

From January to May, the national online retail sales reached 4,017.6 billion yuan, an increase of 4.5 percent year on year, 2.8 percentage points higher than that from January to April. Among them, the online retail sales of physical goods reached 3,373.9 billion yuan, an increase of 11.5 percent, accounting for 24.3 percent of the total retail sales of social consumer goods; among the online retail sales of physical goods, food and consumer goods increased by 37.0 and 14.9 percent respectively, while clothing goods decreased by 6.8 percent.

Annotations:

1. Revision Description

According to the results of the fourth national economic census, the total retail sales of consumer goods in 2019 are revised, and the monthly growth rate in 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: 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).

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 May 2019 was revised. The revised figures and figures in May 2020 are as follows: