Financial Observation: Multiple factors have shown that the consumer market has recovered in May
Data showed that the consumer market recovered and improved in May, service retail continued to grow rapidly, and travel and cultural tourism consumption remained active.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that in May, total retail sales of consumer goods increased by 3.7% year-on-year, 1.4 percentage points faster than in April; among the 18 commodity categories of units above the designated size, the growth rate of retail sales of 13 categories of commodities rebounded.
Liu Aihua, spokesperson, chief economist and director of the Department of Comprehensive Statistics of the National Economy of the National Bureau of Statistics, pointed out that the "May Day" holiday effect, the effectiveness of the old-for-new policy for consumer goods, and the early start of the "618" sales are important factors in the recovery of the consumer market.
Residents' demand for travel, culture and tourism consumption continues to be released, driving rapid growth in consumption of related services.
During the May Day holiday, the number of domestic tourists and total travel expenditure increased by 7.6% and 12.7% year-on-year respectively, and the national box office revenue of commercial performances increased by 37.2%.
Data shows that in the first five months, my country's service retail sales increased by 7.9% year-on-year. Among them, catering revenue increased by 8.4% year-on-year, and the retail sales of transportation services, tourism consulting and leasing services, and cultural and sports leisure services maintained rapid growth.
At the same time, driven by factors such as the "618" online shopping promotion and the old-for-new policy for consumer goods, the proportion of online consumption continues to increase, and sales of upgraded products have shown good growth.
In the first five months, online retail sales of physical goods increased by 11.5% year-on-year, accounting for 24.7% of the total retail sales of consumer goods, and the proportion has continued to increase since the beginning of this year. Among them, food, clothing, and daily necessities increased by 19.6%, 9%, and 10.8% respectively.
In terms of upgraded consumption, in May, sales of sports and entertainment products, communication equipment, household appliances and audio-visual equipment increased by 20.2%, 16.6% and 12.9% year-on-year, respectively, with the growth rates accelerating by 7.5, 3.3 and 8.4 percentage points compared with April; retail sales of cosmetics increased by 18.7%.
Yuan Yan, chief statistician of the Department of Trade and Economics of the National Bureau of Statistics, pointed out that the digital transformation of physical retail enterprises continues to advance, and new consumption hotspots and new formats are growing well. Warehouse membership stores with distinctive private-label products and membership services have maintained double-digit growth in commodity retail sales, and the consumption demand for upgraded products has been rapidly released.
"Since the beginning of this year, the consumer market has maintained a stable growth trend. But we must also see that residents' consumption capacity and willingness still need to be strengthened, and sales of some commodities and business formats are weak." Yuan Yan said that in the next stage, we must focus on improving residents' consumption capacity, continuously consolidate the foundation for consumption growth, accelerate the implementation of the policy of replacing old consumer goods with new ones, and promote the continued recovery of the consumer market.
