In April 2025, China's retail sales rose by 5.1% year-on-year, a slowdown from the 5.9% increase seen in March, which was the highest in over a month, and slightly below market expectations of 5.5%. This deceleration occurs against a backdrop of subdued domestic consumption. Households have been exercising caution due to ongoing economic uncertainties, stagnant income growth, and concerns about the effects of escalating U.S. tariffs.
A breakdown of sales figures reveals a deceleration across several categories: tobacco and alcohol saw their growth rate slow to 4.0% from 8.5% in March; beverages decreased to 2.9% from 4.4%; clothing and shoes dropped to 2.2% from 3.6%; sports and entertainment fell to 23.3% from 26.3%; personal care moved to 7.6% from 8.8%; and vehicle sales took a significant dip, down to 0.7% from 5.5%.
Conversely, sales of petroleum products experienced a sharper decline, plummeting to -5.7% from -1.9%. On a more positive note, sales gained momentum for certain categories. Grain, oil, and food sales grew to 14.0% from 13.8%; household appliances surged to 38.8% from 35.1%; jewelry sales jumped to 25.3% from 10.6%; office supplies were up to 33.5% from 21.5%; and medicine sales increased to 2.6% from 1.4%, partly driven by a significant rebound in building materials sales, which improved to 9.7% from -0.1%.
Overall, for the first four months of the year, retail sales have grown by 4.7%.
