Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month increased 2.4 percent and 4.1 percent respectively from a year earlier, accelerating from gains of 1.6 percent and 0.7 percent the previous month, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
Retail sales were NT$400.9 billion (US$12.38 billion) last month, rising on an annual basis for the 33th consecutive month and the highest sales figure on record for the month of May, ministry data showed.
Sales were driven mainly by increased consumption at supermarkets, convenience stores and hypermarkets, as well as e-commerce sites, cosmetics outlets, automobile vendors and apparel shops, despite a drop in sales at department stores, information technology and consumer electronics shops, and fuel retail outlets, the ministry said in a report.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE
In the first five months of this year, retail sales totaled NT$1.97 trillion, up 3.1 percent from a year earlier and the highest figure over the period, it said.
Sales in the food and beverage sector reached NT$84.9 billion last month, increasing year-on-year for the fourth consecutive month and a record for the month of May, the ministry said.
The ministry attributed the showing to Mother’s Day boosting restaurant sales, promotional activities that boosted beverage sales and steady demand for in-flight meals, which supported catering services.
From January to last month, food and beverage sales rose 4.8 percent year-on-year to NT$429 billion, also the highest figure for the five-month period on record, the ministry said.
Sales in the two sectors this month are expected to increase further, benefiting from Dragon Boat Festival promotions, school graduation events and the launch of new vehicle models, it said.
Retail sales this month are expected to grow 1 to 4 percent year-on-year to between NT$390.6 billion and NT$402.2 billion, while food and beverage sales would increase 3.8 to 6.8 percent to between NT$84.5 billion and NT$87 billion, the ministry said.
As for the wholesale sector, sales last month grew 12.6 percent annually to NT$1.08 trillion, increasing for a third straight month, on the back of rising shipments of machinery equipment, chemical materials, food and tobacco products, and clothes and apparel, the report said.
The increase was mainly due to customer demand for artificial intelligence and high-performance computing applications, inventory replenishment by non-tech manufacturers and restocking by channel clients ahead of the Dragon Boat Festival, the report said.
Cumulative sales in the first five months of the year grew 10.1 percent to NT$5.18 trillion, and sales this month would rise 10.3 to 13.3 percent annually to between NT$1.08 trillion and NT$1.11 trillion, the ministry said.
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