Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that value of retail sales for the first quarter of 2022 totalled MOP18.65 billion, down slightly by 0.6% year-on-year. After removing the effect of price changes, the sales volume index rose by 1.9% year-on-year.
Among the major retail trade activities, sales value of Motor Vehicles (-25.3%) dropped significantly year-on-year, and sales values of Cosmetics & Sanitary Articles (-15.6%) and Adults’ Clothing (-10.9%) recorded decreases. On the other hand, sales values of Communication Equipment (+9.9%) and Leather Goods (+8.4%) increased. As regards sales volume index, the indices of Leather Goods (+16.0%) and Communication Equipment (+15.3%) registered notable year-on-year growth, while the indices of Motor Vehicles (-27.2%) and Automotive Fuels (-16.2%) showed a decline.
Value of retail sales in the first quarter of 2022 edged up by 0.1% as compared with the revised figure (MOP18.64 billion) in the fourth quarter of 2021. Sales value of Communication Equipment soared by 42.8%, whereas sales values of Motor Vehicles and Cosmetics & Sanitary Articles fell by 25.8% and 12.3% respectively. Meanwhile, the sales volume index grew by 0.7% quarter-to-quarter; the index of Communication Equipment (+42.6%) recorded sizeable growth, whereas the indices of Motor Vehicles (-27.1%) and Cosmetics & Sanitary Articles (-10.8%) dropped.
In respect of retailers’ comments, 65.8% of the retailers anticipated a year-on-year decrease in sales volume in the second quarter of 2022, 31.9% expected the sales volume to stay stable and only 2.3% forecasted an increase. Meanwhile, 71.0% of the retailers predicted that the retail prices would remain steady year-on-year in the second quarter, 17.2% foresaw a decrease and 11.8% expected an increase. As compared with the first quarter of 2022, about 59.0% of the retailers envisaged sluggish business in the second quarter, whereas retailers expecting stable performance (22.9%) and those anticipating a favourable outlook (18.1%) together accounted for 41.0% of the total.