Today (September 15th), the National Bureau of Statistics released the retail sales data for social consumer goods in August 2023. In August, the total retail sales of social consumer goods reached 3.7933 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.6%, accelerating by 2.1％ compared to the previous month, and a month-on-month increase of 0.31%. From January to August, the total retail sales of social consumer goods amounted to 30.2281 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.0%.
From January to August, the national online retail sales reached 9.5387 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.1%. Among them, the online retail sales of physical goods amounted to 7.9821 trillion yuan, an increase of 9.5%, accounting for 26.4% of the total retail sales of social consumer goods. In terms of cosmetics, the total retail sales of cosmetics in August 2023 reached 32.1 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.7%; from January to August, the total retail sales of cosmetics amounted to 263.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.5%.
Specifically, after experiencing negative growth in cosmetics retail sales in July, August did not continue the downward trend and showed a slight increase compared to the previous month, with a year-on-year growth rate approaching 10%. Overall, the retail sales of cosmetics have shown a recovery trend in the past six months.
According to historical data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, the highest growth rate in August was in 2020, with a growth rate of 19%. Since then, the growth rate has sharply declined. After experiencing two consecutive years of decline, the retail sales of cosmetics in August this year achieved a year-on-year growth of 9.7% to 32.1 billion yuan.
In terms of customs data, China imported 30,229 tons of cosmetics and toiletries in August, with an import value of 9.99 billion yuan. From January to August, the national imports of cosmetics and toiletries amounted to 240,200 tons, a year-on-year decrease of 14.6%; the import value was 85.25 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 11.7%.
The National Bureau of Statistics stated that in August, key indicators showed marginal improvement, the national economy continued to recover, high-quality development progressed steadily, and positive factors accumulated. However, it is also necessary to recognize that there are still many external instabilities and uncertainties, domestic demand remains inadequate, and the foundation for economic recovery still needs to be consolidated.
