Retail sales in Taiwan increased by 3.2% year-on-year in March 2026, easing from a 7.7% rise in February. Although most categories continued to post growth, the overall momentum softened noticeably. The slowdown was particularly evident in general merchandise stores (4.6% vs 22.9% in February), food, beverages and tobacco (4.8% vs 20.1%), and textiles and clothing (1.2% vs 27.3%).
Sales also grew more moderately in household appliances and goods (5.7% vs 13.6%) and in pharmaceutical and medical products (5.8% vs 9.6%). By contrast, sales of information and communications equipment gained traction (12.4% vs 5.9%), while fuel and related products (2.7% vs -8.6%) and construction materials (0.9% vs -7.2%) returned to positive growth.
Motor vehicles, motorcycles, and related parts remained in contraction (-4.4% vs -25.4%), though the rate of decline narrowed significantly. Meanwhile, other retail sales (11.6% vs 23.0%), e-commerce (9.5% vs 1.3%), and non-store retail (6.3% vs 0.1%) all continued to expand. On a month-on-month basis, total retail sales rose by 5.9%.
