City skyline in China

China Retail

China Retail

Retail Sales in China

Over the past decade leading to 2022, China's economy recorded an average retail sales growth rate of 8.2%, in line with the 8.2% average for Asia-Pacific. In 2022, retail sales growth was -0.2%.

China Retail Chart

Note: This chart displays Retail Sales (ann. var. %) for China from 2014 to 2023.
Source: National Bureau of Statistics China.

China Retail Data

2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Retail Sales (ann. var. %) 9.0 8.0 -3.9 12.5 -0.2

Real-sector data for November is mixed

Industrial output increased 6.6% compared to the same month of the previous year in November, which was above October's 4.6% increase and overshot market expectations. November's print marked the best reading since February 2022. Looking at the details of the release, November's pickup was broad-based, with the manufacturing, mining and quarrying and energy sub-sectors all accelerating. Also in November, retail sales rose 10.1% year on year, up from October’s 7.6% growth but well below market expectations of a 12.5% expansion. A favorable base effect—retail sales declined steeply in November 2022 due to Covid-19 lockdowns—flattered the November 2023 growth reading. In January–November, fixed investment rose 2.9%, matching January–October’s expansion. While investment by state-owned enterprises remained strong, private investment continued to contract, a sign of subdued business confidence. Finally, property indicators were downbeat, with November seeing sharp year-on-year falls in property sales and floor space under construction.

Giving their take on the November data, Goldman Sachs analysts said: “China's November activity data and our high-frequency trackers for early December suggest sequential growth momentum remains largely stable, although the strength appeared unevenly distributed across sectors and the impact of recent policy easing has not fully kicked in. We believe favorable base effects related to China's Covid exit wave late last year should help boost year-on-year GDP growth in Q4 vs. Q3.” DBS analysts commented: “The crux of the slow growth is soaring real interest rates. The real policy rate has risen to 3.95% in Nov from the trough of 0.85% in Sep 22. Tight money supply added upward pressure to funding costs.”

Consensus Forecasts and Projections for the next ten years

How should you choose a forecaster if some are too optimistic while others are too pessimistic? FocusEconomics collects Chinese retail projections for the next ten years from a panel of 10 analysts at the leading national, regional and global forecast institutions. These projections are then validated by our in-house team of economists and data analysts and averaged to provide one Consensus Forecast you can rely on for each indicator. By averaging all forecasts, upside and downside forecasting errors tend to cancel each other out, leading to the most reliable retail forecast available for Chinese retail.

Download one of our sample reports to visualize what a Consensus Forecast is and see our Chinese retail projections.

Want to get access to the full dataset of Chinese retail forecasts? Send an email to info@focus-economics.com.

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