Today (January 17th), China’s National Bureau of Statistics released the social consumer goods retail data for December 2023. In December 2023, the total retail sales of social consumer goods reached 4.355 trillion yuan ($605.1 billion), an increase of 7.4% compared to the previous year. In 2023, the total retail sales of social consumer goods amounted to 47.1495 trillion yuan ($6.55 trillion), representing a 7.2% growth compared to the previous year.
In 2023, the national online retail sales reached 15.4264 trillion yuan ($2.14 trillion), an increase of 11.0% compared to the previous year. Among them, the online retail sales of physical goods amounted to 13.0174 trillion yuan ($1.8 trillion), with an increase of 8.4%. As for the cosmetics industry, the total retail sales of cosmetics in December 2023 amounted to 32.3 billion yuan ($4.49 billion), a year-on-year increase of 9.7%.
Specifically, the annual retail sales of cosmetics in 2023 reached 414.2 billion yuan ($57.55 billion), a year-on-year increase of 5.1%. Among them, the highest year-on-year growth occurred in April and May, with increases of 24.3% and 11.7% respectively. The retail sales for those two months were 27.6 billion yuan ($3.83 billion) and 33 billion yuan ($4.59 billion) respectively. In addition, July and November experienced negative growth compared to the same period in 2022, with year-on-year declines of 4.1% and 3.5% respectively. However, overall, 2023 showed a fluctuating growth trend.
When comparing the annual data from 2018 to 2023, after experiencing negative growth in 2022, the retail sales of cosmetics reached a new high in 2023, surpassing the full-year figure of 402.6 billion yuan ($55.94 billion) in 2021. Although many beauty conglomerates reported in their financial reports that the pace of China’s economic recovery was slower than expected in 2023, the annual data still showed positive development in the retail sales of cosmetics.
Regarding customs data, in December 2023, China imported 23,693.3 tons of beauty and personal care products, with an import value of 8.51 billion yuan ($1.18 billion). In the whole year of 2023, China imported 358,600 tons of beauty and personal care products, a decrease of 14.2% compared to the same period last year. The import value was 126.02 billion yuan ($17.5 billion), a year-on-year decrease of 15.2%.
The Statistics Bureau stated that in 2023, China withstood external pressures, overcame internal difficulties, and achieved a positive economic recovery, solidly promoting high-quality development and successfully meeting major expected targets. The comprehensive construction of a socialist modern country has taken solid steps forward. At the same time, it is necessary to recognize that the current external environment is becoming more complex, severe, and uncertain, and the economic development still faces some difficulties and challenges.
