Total retail sales of consumer goods grew by 8.3% in the first quarter of 2019.

According to data released today by the National Bureau of Statistics, in the first quarter of 2019, the total retail sales of social consumer goods reached 9779 billion yuan, an increase of 8.3% in nominal terms over the same period of last year (6.9% in real terms, excluding price factors). The following are all nominal growth except for special instructions. Among them, retail sales of social consumer goods totaled 3172.6 billion yuan in March, an increase of 8.7% over the same period last year.

According to the location of the business unit, the retail sales of consumer goods in cities and towns increased by 8.2% in the first quarter compared with the same period last year, while the retail sales of consumer goods in rural areas increased by 9.2% to 1438.8 billion yuan. Among them, the retail sales of urban consumer goods in March were 2719.2 billion yuan, an increase of 8.5% compared with the same period last year; the retail sales of rural consumer goods were 453.4 billion yuan, an increase of 9.4%.

According to consumption type, the first quarter catering income was 1064.4 billion yuan, an increase of 9.6% compared with the same period last year, and the retail sales of goods were 8714.6 billion yuan, an increase of 8.2%. Among them, in March, catering revenue was 339.3 billion yuan, an increase of 95% compared with the same period last year; retail sales of goods were 2833.3 billion yuan, an increase of 8.6%. The retail sales of supermarkets, department stores and specialty stores increased by 7.5%, 0.9% and 3.9% respectively in the first quarter, while the retail sales of monopoly stores decreased by 0.9% in the first quarter.

In the first quarter, online retail sales in China totaled 2237.9 billion yuan, an increase of 15.3% over the same period last year. Among them, online retail sales of physical goods increased by 21.0% to 1777.2 billion yuan, accounting for 18.2% of the total retail sales of consumer goods; online retail sales of food, clothing and other goods increased by 24.6%, 19.1% and 21.3% respectively.