China’s retail sales grew 1.0% year-on-year in June 2026, rebounding from a 0.6% contraction in May and beating market expectations for a 0.1% decline. Growth was driven largely by strong gains in several categories: sales of communication equipment surged 16.5%, cosmetics rose 12.6%, tobacco and alcohol increased 12.1%, and food products advanced 7.9%.
These improvements were partly offset by persistent weakness in big-ticket items. Automobile sales slumped 16.1%, while sales of home appliances fell 8.7%, building materials 10.5%, furniture 6.6%, petroleum products 5.1%, and gold and silver jewelry 3.4%.
By segment, catering revenue increased 1.2%, and retail sales of goods were up 0.9%. Excluding automobiles, retail sales climbed 3.0%. On a month-on-month basis, retail sales rose 0.4%, reversing a 0.2% decline in the previous month. For the first half of the year, overall retail sales grew 1.3%, while sales of consumer goods excluding automobiles were up 2.8%.
