Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that value of retail sales for the fourth quarter of 2021 totalled MOP18.50 billion, up by 1.7% year-on-year. After removing the effect of price changes, the sales volume index grew by 4.6% year-on-year.

Among the major retail trade activities, sales values of Supermarkets (+19.8%) and Communication Equipment (+12.3%) registered notable year-on-year rise, whereas sales values of Motor Vehicles (-16.4%) and Adults’ Clothing (-13.1%) decreased. In terms of volume of retail sales, sales volume indices of Communication Equipment (+19.5%) and Supermarkets (+17.9%) increased year-on-year, while the indices of Motor Vehicles (-16.5%) and Automotive Fuels (-15.1%) recorded a decrease.

Value of retail sales in the fourth quarter of 2021 grew by 15.8% as compared with the revised figure (MOP15.98 billion) in the third quarter. Sales values of Adults’ Clothing (+41.3%), Communication Equipment (+40.2%) and Motor Vehicles (+35.3%) registered sizeable growth over the previous quarter, while the sales value of Automotive Fuels (-10.1%) dropped. Meanwhile, the volume index of retail sales went up by 17.9% quarter-to-quarter; the sales volume indices of Communication Equipment, Motor Vehicles and Adults’ Clothing rose by 41.6%, 34.8% and 33.4% quarter-to-quarter respectively, whereas the index of Automotive Fuels dipped by 13.9%.

Retail trade business improved in 2021, with the total value of retail sales for the whole year surging by 63.5% year-on-year to MOP73.96 billion; besides, the figure represented a mere drop of 4.2% from 2019 (MOP77.19 billion). The year-on-year increment in retail sales value was mainly driven by an uplift in the sales values of Communication Equipment (+128.7%), Watches, Clocks & Jewellery (+126.6%), Leather Goods (+111.0%) and Department Stores (+81.8%). By contrast, the sales value of Supermarkets went down by 2.0%. In 2021, the sales volume index jumped by 69.9% year-on-year; the sales volume indices of Communication Equipment (+142.4%), Watches, Clocks & Jewellery (+128.7%) and Leather Goods (+118.5%) recorded noticeable growth, whereas the index of Supermarkets (-2.1%) dropped.

In respect of retailers’ comments, 58.1% of the retailers anticipated a year-on-year decrease in the sales volume in the first quarter of 2022, while 39.0% expected the sales volume to stay stable and only 2.9% forecasted an increase. Meanwhile, 62.2% of the retailers predicted that the retail prices would remain steady year-on-year in the first quarter, 25.8% foresaw an increase and 12.0% expected a decrease. As compared with the fourth quarter of 2021, about 65.0% of the retailers envisaged sluggish business in the first quarter of 2022, whereas the retailers expecting stable performance (27.6%) and those anticipating a favourable outlook (7.4%) together accounted for 35.0% of the total.