Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the value of retail sales surged by 80.1% year-on-year to MOP20.19 billion in the third quarter of 2023. After removing the effect of price changes, the sales volume index leapt by 78.0% year-on-year.

Sales value of Chinese Food Products soared by 439.9% year-on-year, and the sales values of Leather Goods (+148.1%), Department Stores (+123.5%), Adults’ Clothing (+119.6%) and Watches, Clocks & Jewellery (+115.4%) registered notable increases; by contrast, the sales value of Supermarkets decreased by 11.3%. Meanwhile, sales volume indices of Chinese Food Products (+423.8%), Leather Goods (+136.2%), Department Stores (+115.6%), Adults’ Clothing (+110.6%) and Watches, Clocks & Jewellery (+104.3%) recorded a significant year-on-year growth, whereas the index of Supermarkets (-12.5%) showed a decline. For the first three quarters of 2023, the value of retail sales went up by 53.1% year-on-year to MOP65.68 billion, and the average sales volume index grew by 50.2%.

Value of retail sales in the third quarter of 2023 dipped by 5.9% as compared with the revised figure (MOP21.45 billion) in the previous quarter. Sales values of Department Stores and Leather Goods registered respective decreases of 12.2% and 10.6%, whereas the sales value of Chinese Food Products rose by 18.0%. Moreover, the sales volume index dropped by 6.5% quarter-on-quarter, with the indices of Department Stores (-12.3%) and Leather Goods (-11.4%) showing a relatively large fall; yet, the index of Chinese Food Products (+16.9%) increased.

In respect of retailers’ comments, 44.0% of the retailers expected the sales volume to stay stable year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2023, 36.4% anticipated a decrease and 19.6% forecasted an increase. Meanwhile, 68.4% of the retailers predicted that the retail prices would remain steady year-on-year in the fourth quarter, 19.9% foresaw an increase and 11.7% expected a decrease. As compared with the third quarter of 2023, about 41.8% of the retailers envisaged sluggish business in the fourth quarter, 41.7% expected stable performance and 16.5% anticipated a favourable outlook.