The Zhitong Finance App learned that on September 15, Yuan Yan, chief statistician of the Trade and Economics Department of the National Bureau of Statistics, interpreted the consumer market data for January-August. Since this year, the consumer market has maintained a trend of expansion and quality improvement. The market size has been steadily expanding, the consumption structure has continued to be optimized, retail sales of green smart products have been increasing, online retail has maintained rapid growth, and new business formats and models are booming. As market supply gradually improves and expands, consumption scenarios continue to innovate and expand, new consumption growth points emerge and cultivate, and the consumer market continues to operate smoothly. From January to August, total retail sales of goods and services for social consumption increased 2.5% year on year. Among them, retail sales of services increased by 4.9% and retail sales of goods increased by 1.0%, showing the development characteristics of improving the quality of retail services and expanding and upgrading retail sales of goods.
The original text is as follows:
The consumer market is running smoothly and the trend of expanding capacity and improving quality continues
——Yuan Yan, chief statistician of the Trade and Economics Department of the National Bureau of Statistics, interprets the January-August consumer market data
Since this year, the consumer market has maintained a trend of expansion and quality improvement. The market size has been steadily expanding, the consumption structure has continued to be optimized, retail sales of green smart products have been increasing, online retail has maintained rapid growth, and new business formats and models are booming.
1. The volume and quality of the consumer market are increasing, and retail sales of services are growing well
As market supply gradually improves and expands, consumption scenarios continue to innovate and expand, new consumption growth points emerge and cultivate, and the consumer market continues to operate smoothly. From January to August, total retail sales of goods and services for social consumption increased 2.5% year on year. Among them, retail sales of services increased by 4.9% and retail sales of goods increased by 1.0%, showing the development characteristics of improving the quality of retail services and expanding and upgrading retail sales of goods.
The adaptability between supply and demand in the service consumer market has increased, the integration of “online+offline” in the lifestyle service sector has accelerated, and information consumption is growing well. From January to August, retail sales of communications and information services increased by double digits year-on-year. The cultural, sports, tourism and leisure market remains hot, and related consumer demand continues to unleash. From January to August, retail sales of travel consulting and rental services and cultural, sports and leisure services grew rapidly.
2. Retail sales of consumer goods are running smoothly, and retail sales in rural markets are growing faster than in towns
From January to August, total retail sales of consumer goods amounted to 32756.9 billion yuan, an increase of 1.1% over the previous year. After deducting automotive products, retail sales of consumer goods increased by 2.7%. The growth rate was the same as in January-July, and the overall market operation was stable.
The rural market continues to grow faster than the urban one. With the continuous improvement of the commercial and trade circulation system, the rural consumer market environment continues to be optimized, new retail channels are gradually sinking into the countryside, and the vitality of the rural consumer market is further enhanced. From January to August, retail sales of rural consumer goods amounted to 438.2.6 billion yuan, an increase of 2.3% over the previous year. The cumulative growth rate of the rural market has continued to be faster than in urban areas since August last year. According to estimates, retail sales of consumer goods in counties and villages, including towns and villages, accounted for 39.0% of total retail sales of social consumer goods, an increase of 0.3 percentage points over the same period last year, and the urban and rural structure of the consumer goods market has been steadily optimized.
3. Sales of some trade-in products are growing faster, and basic lifestyle products are performing well
The consumer goods trade-in policy continues to gain strength, promoting the expansion and upgrading of retail sales of related products. From January to August, retail sales of communication equipment per unit above the limit increased 16.3% year-on-year, 1.2 percentage points faster than in January-July; retail sales of cultural and office supplies increased 6.0%. Looking at the same month, retail sales of communication equipment per unit above the August limit increased by 27.3%, 6.9 percentage points faster than in July; retail sales of household appliances and audiovisual equipment increased 2.3% from last year's higher base; retail sales of wearable smart devices and high-energy efficiency household appliances continued to grow rapidly.
Sales of basic lifestyle products have been growing steadily. From January to August, retail sales of food, beverages, tobacco and alcohol per unit above the limit increased by 6.8%, 5.5%, and 12.4%, respectively. Looking at the same month, retail sales of beverages, tobacco and alcohol per unit above the limit increased by 4.9% and 12.5% respectively in August, and the growth rates were 1.4 and 6.5 percentage points faster than in July, respectively.
4. New business formats and models are developing rapidly, and online retail is growing rapidly
In order to meet residents' personalized and experiential consumption needs, physical retail enterprises actively apply various new technologies to expand sales channels and innovate to optimize the consumer experience, and the development vitality of new business formats is evident. From January to August, retail sales of warehousing member stores and unattended stores above the limit all grew by more than 25% year-on-year, all of which were faster than in January-July; retail sales in shopping malls continued to grow in double digits; retail sales at consolidated stores accelerated for four consecutive months.
Online retail continues to grow at a relatively rapid pace. From January to August, retail sales of online goods and services increased 4.6% year on year. Among them, retail sales of online services increased by 5.1%, which was 0.2 percentage points higher than retail sales of services; retail sales of online goods increased by 4.3%, which was 3.3 percentage points higher than retail sales of goods. With advantages such as high timeliness and rich categories, instant retail has opened up online and offline consumption scenarios and expanded digital consumption channels, and has maintained rapid growth since this year. From January to August, the growth rate of instant retail transactions continued to exceed double digits, becoming a new engine leading the growth of online retail.
Since this year, China's consumer market has maintained a steady operation and a trend of new and improved development. In the next stage, it is necessary to continue to implement the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, thoroughly implement special actions to boost consumption, enhance consumption capacity, enhance consumption intentions, further improve the mechanism to promote consumption, and promote the positive development of the consumer market.
This article was edited by the National Bureau of Statistics, Zhitong Finance Editor: Chen Wenfang.