In January-February 2022, Sichuan's consumer markets have gotten the new year off to a good start and remained in good shape, the data released by the Sichuan Provincial Bureau of Statistics on March 21 shows. This can be largely attributed to the province-wide efforts to implement well-targeted epidemic containment requirements, introduce more efficient support policies and adopt effective measures for driving consumption.

Market sales saw a stable pickup

Market sales picked up well. In January-February, the province's consumer markets reported a consumer goods retail sales figure of 383.29 billion yuan despite the sporadic COVID-19 cases, registering a year-on-year increase of 7.4%, 0.7 percentage points higher than the national growth rate. Of the amount, the retail sales of consumer goods by enterprises above the designated size grew by 10.7% year on year, 3.3 percentage points higher than the province's overall growth rate.

Both urban and rural markets enjoyed encouraging recovery. In January-February, the province's urban retail sales of consumer goods rose by 7.3% year on year, 0.6 percentage points higher than the national growth rate; the province's rural retail sales of consumer goods went up by 7.8% year on year, 0.7 percentage points higher than the national growth rate.

Commodity retail sales maintained sound growth

In January-February, the province's commodity retail sales climbed by 7.7% year on year, 1.2 percentage points higher than the national growth rate. By commodity category, the province's commodity retail sales in twelve of sixteen commodity categories among enterprises above the designated size saw a year-on-year increase.

Among others, basic everyday commodities enjoyed sustained growth. In January-February, the province's commodity retail sales of grain and oil, and food commodities by enterprises above the designated size rose by 14.1% and 29.2%, 3.7 and 18.5 percentage points higher than the national growth rate, respectively.

Catering consumption, however, experienced a decline in the growth rate due to COVID-19. In January-February, the province's catering revenue grew by 5.6% year on year, 3.3 percentage points lower than the national growth rate.

Online retail sales remained robust

Online retail sales continued to be a major driver of consumption. In January-February, the province's online retail sales of physical commodities increased by 15.3% year on year, 3 percentage points higher than the national growth rate, due to such factors as the "online Lunar New Year's Shopping Festival" as well as promotional activities by various local platforms.

Online retail sales of commodities by enterprises above the designated size maintained sound growth. In January-February, the province's consumer markets of enterprises above the designated size recorded an online retail sales figure of 25.31 billion yuan, up 25.2% year on year, 15.6 percentage points higher than the province's overall online retail sales growth rate.