China’s retail sales grew just 0.2% year-on-year in April 2026, a sharp slowdown from the 1.7% increase in March and well below the consensus forecast of 2%. This was the weakest reading since the contraction recorded in December 2022 and reflected broad-based softness in big-ticket spending. Automobile sales slumped 15.3%, while sales of home appliances (-15.1%), building materials (-13.8%), and furniture (-10.4%) also recorded substantial declines. These falls were partially offset by solid gains in tobacco and alcohol (11.7%), communication equipment (6.2%), grains, oils, and food products (4.1%), and cosmetics (4.7%).
By category, services continued to outperform goods. Catering revenue rose 2.2%, whereas retail goods sales slipped 0.1%. Excluding automobiles, retail sales increased 1.8%, pointing to relatively more resilient underlying consumption outside the auto sector. On a month-on-month basis, retail sales fell 0.5% after a 0.1% decline in March. Cumulatively, retail sales for the January–April period rose 1.9%.
