Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that value of retail sales for the third quarter of 2019 decreased by 0.5% year-on-year to MOP18.06 billion and the sales volume dropped by 0.7%.
Among the major retail activities, sales values of Adults’ Clothing (-18.1%) and Motor Vehicles (-9.3%) recorded notable year-on-year decreases, while values of Cosmetics & Sanitary Articles and Communication Equipment rose by 15.9% and 12.9% respectively. After removing the effect of price changes, sales volumes of Motor Vehicles (-17.1%) and Adults’ Clothing (-14.8%) declined markedly year-on-year, whereas volumes of Communication Equipment (+23.5%) and Cosmetics & Sanitary Articles (+18.3%) registered significant growth. For the first three quarters of 2019, value of retail sales fell by 0.9% year-on-year to MOP56.42 billion and volume of sales went down by 0.9%.
Value of retail sales in the third quarter of 2019 grew by 0.9% as compared with the revised figure (MOP17.89 billion) in the second quarter. Sales values of Cosmetics & Sanitary Articles and Goods in Department Stores recorded increases of 9.9% and 9.4% respectively, while values of Communication Equipment (-23.7%) and Motor Vehicles (-11.4%) dropped. Volume of retail sales for the third quarter of 2019 rose by 1.3% quarter-to-quarter, with Cosmetics & Sanitary Articles (+13.6%) and Goods in Department Stores (+10.9%) showing notable growth. However, sales volumes of Communication Equipment (-21.7%) and Motor Vehicles (-11.4%) decreased.
In respect of retailers’ comments, 47.9% of the retailers expected the sales volume in the fourth quarter of 2019 to stay stable year-on-year, 42.1% forecasted a decrease and merely 10.0% anticipated an increase. Meanwhile, 75.9% of the retailers expected the retail prices to remain steady year-on-year in the fourth quarter, 12.5% predicted a decrease and 11.6% foresaw an increase. As compared with the third quarter of 2019, 49.9% of the retailers forecasted unfavourable business prospects in the fourth quarter, 30.0% envisaged stable performance and 20.1% anticipated a favourable outlook.