Total Retail Sales of Consumer Goods in the First Quarter of 2022

In the first quarter, the total retail sales of social consumer goods was 10,865.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.3 percent (the following are nominal growth unless otherwise specified). Among them, the retail sales of consumer goods other than automobiles reached 9,792 billion yuan, an increase of 3.6 percent. Excluding price factors, the total retail sales of social consumer goods in the first quarter actually increased by 1.3 percent year-on-year.

In March, the total retail sales of social consumer goods was 3,423.3 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 3.5 percent. Among them, the retail sales of consumer goods other than automobiles reached 3,056 billion yuan, down 3.0 percent.

According to the location of business units, the retail sales of urban consumer goods in the first quarter was 9,429.2 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.2 percent; the retail sales of rural consumer goods reached 1,436.7 billion yuan, an increase of 3.5 percent. In March, the retail sales of urban consumer goods reached 2,969.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 3.6 percent; the retail sales of rural consumer goods reached 453.4 billion yuan, down 3.3 percent.

By consumption type, the retail sales of commodities in the first quarter was 9,800.6 billion yuan, an increase of 3.6 percent year-on-year; catering revenue was 1,065.3 billion yuan, an increase of 0.5 percent. In March, retail sales of goods reached 3,129.8 billion yuan, down 2.1 percent year-on-year; catering revenue was 293.5 billion yuan, down 16.4 percent.

According to retail formats, the retail sales of supermarkets, convenience stores, professional stores and specialty stores in retail units above designated size in the first quarter increased by 3.2, 10.1, 6.6 and 1.0 percent respectively year-on-year, and the retail sales of department stores decreased by 3.3 percent year-on-year.

In the first quarter, the national online retail sales reached 3,012 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.6 percent. Among them, the online retail sales of physical goods reached 2,525.7 billion yuan, an increase of 8.8 percent, accounting for 23.2 percent of the total retail sales of social consumer goods; among the online retail sales of physical goods, food, clothing and consumer goods increased by 13.5, 0.9 and 10.6 percent respectively.

Total Retail Sales of Consumer Goods in March 2022

Annotations:

1. 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.

2. 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).

3. Survey Methods

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

4. 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 March 2020 was revised. The revised figures and figures are as follows: