Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that, owing to the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, value of retail sales for the third quarter of 2022 dropped by 30.3% year-on-year to MOP11.13 billion. After removing the effect of price changes, the sales volume index fell by 32.0% year-on-year.
Among the major retail trade activities, sales values of Department Stores (-53.6%) and Leather Goods (-43.8%) decreased notably year-on-year, while the sales values of Motor Vehicles (+8.4%) and Supermarkets (+5.1%) registered an increase. Meanwhile, sales volume indices of Department Stores (-53.8%), Adults’ Clothing (-40.6%) and Leather Goods (-40.2%) recorded a significant year-on-year decline, whereas the indices of Motor Vehicles (+5.7%) and Supermarkets (+2.0%) showed increases. For the first three quarters of 2022, the value of retail sales went down by 22.8% year-on-year to MOP42.83 billion, and the average sales volume index dipped by 22.2%.
Value of retail sales in the third quarter of 2022 decreased by 15.2% as compared with the revised figure (MOP13.13 billion) in the previous quarter. Sales values of Communication Equipment, Leather Goods and Department Stores fell markedly by 40.3%, 31.3% and 24.7% respectively; on the other hand, sales values of Motor Vehicles and Supermarkets registered respective growth of 21.0% and 6.2%. Moreover, the sales volume index dropped by 17.5% quarter-to-quarter, with the indices of Communication Equipment (-39.5%), Leather Goods (-30.8%) and Department Stores (-24.7%) recording large decreases; yet, the indices of Motor Vehicles (+21.2%) and Supermarkets (+5.1%) increased.
In respect of retailers’ comments, 52.7% of the retailers anticipated a year-on-year decrease in sales volume in the fourth quarter of 2022, 37.7% expected the sales volume to stay stable and 9.6% forecasted an increase. Meanwhile, 68.8% of the retailers predicted that the retail prices would remain steady year-on-year in the fourth quarter, 19.8% foresaw a decrease and 11.4% expected an increase. As compared with the third quarter of 2022, about 49.9% of the retailers envisaged sluggish business in the fourth quarter, whereas retailers expecting stable performance (35.7%) and those anticipating a favourable outlook (14.4%) together accounted for 50.1% of the total.