China’s retail sales increased by 1.1% year-on-year in September 2026, accelerating from a 0.4% rise in August and surpassing market expectations of a 0.5% gain. This was the fastest pace of growth since March.
The headline figure was driven largely by a 31.1% jump in communication equipment sales, along with solid increases in tobacco and alcohol (+13.8%), food products (+6.7%), and cosmetics (+5.4%). In contrast, automobile sales slumped 21.2%, while sales of gold and silver jewelry (-9.6%) and building materials (-9.2%) also contracted. Excluding automobiles, retail sales were up a stronger 3.9%.
By category, catering revenue grew 2.1%, and sales of goods rose 1.0%. Over the first nine months of the year, online retail sales of physical goods climbed 3.8% year-on-year, and total online retail sales of goods and services combined expanded by 4.4%.
On a month-on-month basis, retail trade advanced 0.4% in September, reversing a 0.2% decline in August. For the January–September period, overall retail sales were up 1.1% from a year earlier, while sales excluding automobiles increased by 2.8%.
