Sales by the retail and food and beverage sectors last month hit the highest March levels on record, while the wholesale sector saw sales decline for a fifth straight month from a year earlier, the Ministry of Economic Affairs reported on Monday.
Retail sales came in at NT$368.5 billion (US$12.01 billion) last month, an annual increase of 7.1 percent, while food and beverage sales totaled NT$76.6 billion, up 9.8 percent year-on-year, the report said.
The figures beat the ministry’s growth forecasts of 1.6 percent for retail and 4.6 percent for food and beverage.
Photo: CNA
The increase in retail sales was mainly driven by sales of vehicles, motorbikes and related components, which soared 27.9 percent from a year earlier.
Other growth drivers were rising consumption of food, beverage and tobacco products by international tourists, higher demand for pharmaceuticals, cosmetic and skincare products amid the easing of COVID-19 restrictions, and robust online shopping due to effective sales campaigns, the report said.
As for food and beverage, the ministry said that catering service providers reported a 46.1 percent annual increase in sales due to steady demand for in-flight meals as air travel recovered.
In addition, restaurant sales rose 9.3 percent year-on-year, as consumers were more willing to spend on dining and businessowners continued to expand, while beverage sales increased 3.2 percent on the back of new product launches, it added.
In the first quarter of the year, retail sales totaled NT$1.11 trillion, up 5.3 percent from a year earlier and 4.4 percent from the previous three months, which the ministry attributed to more people returning home over the Lunar New Year holiday, as well as rising consumption by international travelers following the easing of border controls.
Food and beverage sales also rose 17.2 percent year-on-year to a record NT$254.8 billion in the first quarter, outpacing the previous quarter’s 13.3 percent annual growth, ministry data showed.
Meanwhile, the wholesale sector remained sluggish, affected by weak global macroeconomics, which led to high inventories and slow demand for domestic machinery and equipment, building materials and chemicals, the ministry said.
Overall sales dropped 13.3 percent from a year earlier to NT$1.02 trillion last month, it said.
For the first three months of the year, wholesale revenue fell 11.6 percent from a year earlier to NT$2.79 trillion, it said.
For this month, the ministry forecast that retail sales would rise between 6.2 and 9.2 percent annually to between NT$365.3 billion and NT$375.6 billion, while food and beverage sales would increase by 24.6 to 27.6 percent to between NT$77.3 billion and NT$79.1 billion.
Wholesale revenue is expected to fall for a sixth consecutive month by 9.5 to 12.5 percent to between NT$931.8 billion and NT$963.7 billion, the ministry said.
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