Total Retail Sales of Consumer Goods in August 2025

In August, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 3,966.8 billion yuan, up by 3.4% year on year. Specifically, the retail sales of consumer goods excluding automobiles reached 3,557.5 billion yuan, up by 3.7%. From January to August, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 32,390.6 billion yuan, up by 4.6%. Specifically, the retail sales of consumer goods excluding automobiles reached 29,264.3 billion yuan, up by 5.1%.

By areas of business units, in August, the retail sales of consumer goods in urban areas were 3,438.7 billion yuan, up by 3.2% year on year; that in rural areas were 528.1 billion yuan, up by 4.6%. From January to August, the retail sales of consumer goods in urban areas reached 28,105.6 billion yuan, up by 4.6%; that in rural areas reached 4,285.0 billion yuan, up by 4.7%.

By consumption patterns, in August, the retail sales of goods were 3,517.2 billion yuan, up by 3.6% year on year; the income of catering industry was 449.6 billion yuan, up by 2.1%. From January to August, the retail sales of goods reached 28,742.6 billion yuan, up by 4.8%; the income of catering industry reached 3,648.0 billion yuan, up by 3.6%.

By retail formats, from January to August, the retail sales of convenience store, supermarket, department store, specialty store, and brand exclusive store among retail enterprises (units) above the designated size increased by 6.6%, 4.9%, 1.2%, 5.2%, and 1.7% year on year, respectively.

From January to August, China’s online retail sales reached 9,982.8 billion yuan, up by 9.6% year on year. Among them, the online retail sales of physical goods were 8,096.4 billion yuan, up by 6.4%, accounting for 25.0% of the total retail sales of consumer goods; among the online retail sales of physical goods, those of food, clothing, and daily necessities increased by 15.0%, 2.4%, and 5.7%, respectively.

Total Retail Sales of Consumer Goods in August 2025

Annotations:

1. Explanation on Indicators

Total retail sales of consumer goods refers to the revenue of enterprises (units and self-employed individuals) from sales of non-production and non-business physical goods to individuals and social groups, as well as the income obtained from providing catering services.

Online retail sales refers to the total retail sales of goods and services through public online trading platforms (including self-built websites and third-party platforms). Goods and services cover physical goods and non-physical goods (such as virtual goods, service goods, etc.).

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

2. Statistical Coverage

Legal person enterprises, industry activity units, and self-employed individuals engaged in goods retail activities or providing catering services. Specifically, enterprises (units) above the designated size refer to wholesale enterprises (units and self-employed individuals) with an annual business revenue of 20 million yuan and above, retail enterprises (units and self-employed individuals) with that of 5 million yuan and above, and enterprises (units and self-employed individuals) providing hotels and catering services with that of 2 million yuan and above.

3. Survey Methods

The data of all enterprises (units) above the designated size are collected through comprehensive surveys, while the data of enterprises (units) below the designated size are collected through sampling surveys.

4. Statistical Coverage

As the coverage of enterprises (units and self-employed individuals) engaged in wholesale and retail trades and hotels and catering services changes every year, to ensure the comparability between the data of the current year and those of the previous year, when calculating the year-on-year growth rates of indicators, such as the retail sales of the enterprises (units) above the designated size, data of the previous year have been adjusted according to the statistical coverage of the current year, and thus vary with those released in the previous year in statistical coverage. The main reason is that some enterprises (units and self-employed individuals) are included within the survey coverage after reaching the designated standard every year, and some enterprises (units and self-employed individuals) are excluded from the survey coverage due to their smaller scale and failure to meet the designated standard. There are also influences of enterprises (units and self-employed individuals) that are newly-established, bankrupt, and have their business licenses canceled (revoked).

As the coverage of key online platforms included in the online retail sales statistics changes every year, to ensure the comparability between the data of the current year and those of the previous year, when calculating the year-on-year growth rates of online retail sales, data of the previous year have been adjusted according to the statistical coverage of the current year, and thus vary with those released in the previous year in statistical coverage. The main reason is that there are new platforms included within the survey coverage and platforms excluded from the survey coverage due to failure to meet the requirements of the statistical system every year.

5. Revision on Month-on-Month Data

In accordance with the automatic correction results of the seasonal adjustment model, the month-on-month growth rates of total retail sales of consumer goods since August 2024 are revised. The revised results and the month-on-month data of August 2025 are as follows:

6. Explanation on Year-on-Year Growth Rate

In accordance with the results of the Fifth National Economic Census, the data on the total retail sales of consumer goods and the online retail sales are revised. The monthly growth rates of the total retail sales of consumer goods and the online retail sales in 2025 are calculated on comparable basis.