City skyline in China

China Retail December 2020

China: Retail sales growth loses pace in December

Retail sales grew 4.6% year-on-year in December (November: +5.0% yoy), with the loss of momentum likely partly due to extremely cold weather. Looking at subsectors, car sales growth slowed markedly in December, while catering services gained momentum.

On a monthly basis, retail sales increased 1.2% in seasonally-adjusted terms in December, which was below November’s 1.6% expansion. Meanwhile, the trend pointed down, with the annual average variation of retail sales coming in at minus 4.4% in December, down from November’s minus 4.1%.

Retail sales data suggests the recovery in private spending significantly lagged the rebound in industrial production last year, as consumers stayed cautious for many months following the harsh lockdown in Q1. Regarding the near-term outlook, analysts at Nomura commented:

“We expect the sequential recovery momentum in retail sales, especially catering services, to weaken sequentially in Q1, due to the widespread resurgence of Covid-19 across North China and the ensuing tightening in social distancing rules, while an extremely low base in January–February 2020 (-20.5% y-o-y) due to the Covid-19 outbreak and stringent lockdown measures in early 2020 could still significantly boost the year-on-year growth of retail sales in coming months.”

Free sample report

Access essential information in the shortest time possible. FocusEconomics provide hundreds of consensus forecast reports from the most reputable economic research authorities in the world.
Close Left Media Arrows Left Media Circles Right Media Arrows Right Media Circles Arrow Quote Wave Address Email Telephone Man in front of screen with line chart Document with bar chart and magnifying glass Application window with bar chart Target with arrow Line Chart Stopwatch Globe with arrows Document with bar chart in front of screen Bar chart with magnifying glass and dollar sign Lightbulb Document with bookmark Laptop with download icon Calendar Icon Nav Menu Arrow Arrow Right Long Icon Arrow Right Icon Chevron Right Icon Chevron Left Icon Briefcase Icon Linkedin In Icon Full Linkedin Icon Filter Facebook Linkedin Twitter Pinterest X Download Fullscreen