What is the total retail sales of consumer goods？

The total retail sales of social consumer goods is an important indicator reflecting the macro-economic operation, which is mainly used to reflect the total scale and development level of the consumer goods market. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, under the positive effect of a series of policies and measures to expand domestic demand and promote consumption, China’s super-large-scale market advantage has been continuously exerted, the commodity sales structure has been optimized and upgraded, the urban and rural consumer markets have developed simultaneously, the construction of commercial system has been continuously strengthened, new formats and new models are in the ascendant, and the basic role of consumption in economic growth has been further enhanced.

One,basic concept

The total retail sales of social consumer goods refers to the amount of physical goods directly sold by enterprises (units and self-employed households) to individuals and social groups for non-production and non-operation through transactions, as well as the amount of income obtained from providing catering services. The commodities involved in this index include those sold to individuals for daily consumption and those sold to social groups for non-production and non-operation. Among them, individuals include urban and rural residents and immigrants, and social groups include organs, social groups, troops, enterprises and institutions.

It should be noted that the amount of commodities included in the statistics of the total retail sales of social consumer goods does not include the value of raw materials, fuels and other consumables used by enterprises (units and self-employed households) for production and operation and investment in fixed assets, nor does it include the expenditure of residents for purchasing commercial housing and the expenditure of farmers for purchasing agricultural means of production. In addition, because catering service is a special form of commodity sales, the income from providing catering service is also counted in the total retail sales of social consumer goods.

According to consumption types, the total retail sales of social consumer goods are divided into commodity retail sales and catering income. In 2023, the retail sales of commodities accounted for about 89% of the total retail sales of social consumer goods. According to the location of consumer goods retailers, the total retail sales of social consumer goods are divided into urban consumer goods retail sales (including urban and township) and rural consumer goods retail sales. At present, most retail outlets are concentrated in urban areas. In 2023, urban retail sales accounted for about 86% of the total retail sales of consumer goods.

With the development of information technology, mobile payment has become increasingly popular, and the scale of online retail has expanded rapidly. For this reason, the National Bureau of Statistics established online retail statistics in 2014 and published online retail data regularly. Online retail sales refer to the retail sales of goods and services realized through public online trading platforms (including self-built websites and third-party platforms). Goods and services include physical goods and non-physical goods. The total retail sales of social consumer goods includes online retail sales of physical goods, but does not include online retail sales of non-physical goods.

Second, the main role

The total retail sales of social consumer goods is an important indicator reflecting the macro-economic operation, which is mainly used to reflect the consumption of physical goods in the whole society. It starts with the final link of commodity circulation, and observes the changes of commodity sales entering the living consumption of urban and rural residents and the public consumption of social groups. Its function mainly has the following three aspects.

(1)Reflect the total scale and regional distribution of the domestic consumer goods market, provide reference for analyzing and judging the overall situation, regional characteristics, commodity category supply and future market trend of the domestic consumer goods market, and provide basis for national macro-control.

(2)Reflecting the total consumption demand and changing trend of physical goods by urban and rural residents and social groups can be used to analyze and judge the influence of consumption demand on economic operation.

(3)Reflect the economic boom, as an important reference to judge the economic operation. Retail is the final link of commodity circulation, and the change of retail market reflects the change of economic operation most directly and sensitively. Developed countries usually regard the statistical indicators of the retail market as a barometer to judge the economic operation. In addition, the growth and change of the total retail sales of social consumer goods can also reflect the policy effect of expanding domestic demand and stimulating consumption to a certain extent.

However, the total retail sales of social consumer goods also has certain limitations. First, the total retail sales index of social consumer goods can only generally reflect the consumption of physical goods, but can not fully reflect the final consumption expenditure, which is very different from the final consumption expenditure in caliber and scope. Because the total retail sales of social consumer goods only includes the sales of physical goods that enter the life consumption of urban and rural residents and the public consumption of social groups through the final link of commodity circulation, it does not include the consumption of goods obtained without transactions in the final consumption expenditure, nor does it include the service consumption expenditure of urban and rural residents and social groups for education, medical care, culture, art and entertainment. Second, the total retail sales of social consumer goods is a total index, which mainly reflects the overall changes in the consumer goods market. Therefore, the application of this index alone cannot well reflect the structural characteristics and changes of consumer goods, and it needs to be analyzed in combination with the sub-indicators and related indicators such as household consumption expenditure.

Third, the calculation method

The statistics of the total retail sales of social consumer goods adopt the method of comprehensive survey and sampling survey, supplemented by scientific calculation.

Above the limit^[1]Wholesale and retail, accommodation and catering enterprises, industrial activity units and self-employed households, through the layout of statistical reports, conduct a comprehensive investigation. The retail sales data of units above designated size are obtained by super-summary method and directly summarizing the original data of grass-roots units.

Sample surveys shall be conducted on legal entities, industrial activity units and self-employed households in wholesale and retail, accommodation and catering below designated size. The data of retail sales of units below designated size are obtained according to sampling survey and scientific calculation.

Fourth, examples

In 2023, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with the Supreme Leader as the core, all localities and departments thoroughly implemented the strategy of expanding domestic demand, actively launched a series of measures to boost consumption policies, and promoted the recovery of the consumer market, the market scale steadily expanded, the urban and rural markets grew simultaneously, the proportion of online shopping increased, some upgraded and bulk commodities sold well, and the consumption of catering, travel and entertainment increased rapidly.

In 2023, the total retail sales of social consumer goods reached 47,149.5 billion yuan, an increase of 7.2% over the previous year, and the scale reached a record high. In terms of urban and rural areas, in 2023, the retail sales of urban consumer goods was 407.49 billion yuan, an increase of 7.1% over the previous year; The retail sales of rural consumer goods reached 6.4 trillion yuan, an increase of 8%. Since May, the growth rate of rural market sales has been higher than that of cities and towns. The pace of development of county and township consumer markets has accelerated, and the market share has steadily increased. In 2023, the retail sales of consumer goods in counties and townships including towns and rural areas accounted for 38.4% of the total retail sales of social consumer goods, up 0.3 percentage points from the previous year.

Service retail continued to recover rapidly. In 2023, the retail sales of services increased by 20.0% over the previous year, and the growth rate was 0.5 percentage points faster than that of January-November and 1.1 percentage points faster than that of the previous three quarters. The growth rate of service retail sales was 14.2 percentage points higher than that of commodity retail sales in the same period. The consumption of accommodation, catering, transportation, cultural tourism and other services has increased rapidly. In 2023, the national catering revenue increased by 20.4% over the previous year; Among them, the catering revenue in December increased by 30.0% year-on-year, and the growth rate was 4.2 percentage points faster than that in November. The room income of the accommodation industry above designated size achieved double-digit growth throughout the year. According to data from relevant departments, the national box office revenue in 2023 increased by 82.6% over the previous year.

Online consumption grew rapidly. In 2023, the online retail sales of physical goods increased by 8.4% over the previous year, and the growth rate was 2.2 percentage points faster than that of the previous year; It accounted for 27.6% of the total retail sales of social consumer goods, accounting for an increase of 0.4 percentage points over the previous year. In the online retail sales of physical goods, the categories of food, clothing and use increased by 11.2%, 10.8% and 7.1% respectively over the previous year.

Retail sales of physical stores continued to recover. Driven by the positive "touch-the-net" transformation of commercial and retail enterprises, the optimization and improvement of consumption environment, and the rich promotion of consumption experience, the retail sales of physical stores continued to recover. In 2023, the retail sales of physical stores above designated size increased by 5.0% over the previous year, among which the retail sales of convenience stores, department stores, specialty store and brand stores increased by 7.5%, 8.8%, 4.9% and 4.5% respectively.

The demand for upgrading green consumption has been continuously released. With the continuous adaptation and improvement of the market supply and demand system and the enhancement of the concept of quality life and green environmental protection, the sales of some upgraded and travel goods are growing well. In 2023, the retail sales of gold, silver, jewelry, sports and entertainment products and communication equipment of units above designated size increased by 13.3%, 11.2% and 7% respectively over the previous year, and the retail sales of automobile products of units above designated size increased by 5.9%. Sales of new energy vehicles maintained rapid growth throughout the year. According to the statistics of Automobile Dealers Association, the retail sales of new energy passenger cars exceeded 7 million in 2023, an increase of more than 35% over the previous year.

Note:

［1］The statistical limit standards are: the annual main business income of wholesale industry is 20 million yuan and above, the annual main business income of retail industry is 5 million yuan and above, and the annual main business income of accommodation and catering industry is 2 million yuan and above.