Domestic commercial sales rose last month from a year earlier, but the pace of growth dropped for the second straight month, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said yesterday.
Domestic trade — including the retail, wholesale and restaurant sectors — totaled NT$1.206 trillion (US$39.9 billion) last month, rising 2.2 percent from a year earlier, but down 3 percent from the previous month, the ministry said in a report on its Web site.
The latest data showed that retail, wholesale and restaurant sales all rose from the year-earlier levels.
However, Katrina Ell, an associate economist at Moody’s Analytics, said the annual increase of 2.2 percent in domestic trade was slower than the rise of 2.8 percent in the previous month.
“Like manufacturing, retail trade is on a bumpy upward trend,” the Sydney-based Ell wrote in an e-mailed statement. “The gas [pipeline] blasts [on July 31 and Aug. 1 in Greater Kaohsiung], coupled with heightened global jitters, have hit confidence and will be a temporary blip on household spending.”
A breakdown of domestic trade showed that the restaurant sector registered the largest annual increase of 4.9 percent to NT$36.5 billion last month.
The ministry attributed the increase mainly to conventional summer vacation spending and promotional activities for the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday.
Meanwhile, sales in the retail sector reported an annual increase of 4.5 percent to NT$330.8 billion, while companies in the wholesale sector saw sales increase 1.2 percent year-on-year to NT$839.1 billion last month, the report showed.
Taking a closer look at the various segments within the retail sector, food, beverages and cigarette products posted the biggest annual growth — 10 percent — to NT$42.2 billion last month, as companies used aggressive promotional campaigns to boost sales during the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday.
Sales of general merchandise still accounted for the biggest portion in total retail trade, at NT$95.2 billion last month, or 28.8 percent, the report showed.
The figure represented an increase of 3.6 percent year-on-year on the back of rising sales from department stores, convenience stores and supermarkets, although hypermarket sales fell slightly in the month.
For this month, the ministry said commercial sales growth would remain resilient, supported by wholesale and retail trade.
However, the recent “tainted oil” scandal has raised food safety concerns in the domestic market and may negatively affect food and restaurant sales this month, the ministry said, citing a recent survey of domestic firms.
The survey found that just 9.1 percent of the polled companies said they expected sales to rise this month from last month, while 10.2 percent expected sales to fall this month and 80.7 percent held a neutral view.
In the first eight months of the year, total domestic trade amounted to NT$9.566 trillion, an increase of 3.1 percent from the same period last year, according to the ministry’s report.
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