Global| Aug 13 2004Big Gain in Chinese Retail Sales
Summary
Retail sales in China strengthened in July, gaining 18.2% over their year-earlier amount. Sales totaled 429 billion yuan or $50.9 billion. It was the strongest performance since before the 1997 Asian currency crisis. This sales [...]
Retail sales in China strengthened in July, gaining 18.2% over their year-earlier amount. Sales totaled 429 billion yuan or $50.9 billion. It was the strongest performance since before the 1997 Asian currency crisis.
This sales expansion is obviously far outpacing the restrained Chinese population growth, which was just 0.6% in 2003. The sales gains mean that per capita sales are also rising steeply, and must surely be achieving double-digit advances again this year, extending those of the last several years, illustrated in the table below.
Further, as seen in the accompanying graph, these sales are also outstripping rising Chinese retail prices. Beginning last October, deflation of these prices turned to inflation, which has continued to accelerate. But the gain in sales is larger, yielding hefty increases in the volume of sales as well, so Chinese people seem to be enjoying vigorously expanding consumption.
| Jul 2004 | Jun 2004 | May 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales (Bil.Yuan) | 421 | 425 | 417 | Monthly Average | ||
| 389 | 341 | 313 | ||||
| Yr/Yr % Change | 18.2 | 13.9 | 17.8 | 10.7 | 12.1 | 10.0 |
| Population (Millions) | Yearly Total | |||||
| 1292 | 1285 | 1276 | ||||
| Retail Sales per Capita -- Yuan | 3,612 | 3,282 | 2,946 | |||
| Yr/Yr % Change | 10.1 | 11.4 | 9.3 | |||
Carol Stone, CBE
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Carol Stone, CBE came to Haver Analytics in 2003 following more than 35 years as a financial market economist at major Wall Street financial institutions, most especially Merrill Lynch and Nomura Securities. She has broad experience in analysis and forecasting of flow-of-funds accounts, the federal budget and Federal Reserve operations. At Nomura Securites, among other duties, she developed various indicator forecasting tools and edited a daily global publication produced in London and New York for readers in Tokyo. At Haver Analytics, Carol is a member of the Research Department, aiding database managers with research and documentation efforts, as well as posting commentary on select economic reports. In addition, she conducts Ways-of-the-World, a blog on economic issues for an Episcopal-Church-affiliated website, The Geranium Farm. During her career, Carol served as an officer of the Money Marketeers and the Downtown Economists Club. She has a PhD from NYU's Stern School of Business. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, and has a weekend home on Long Island.
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