Sales in the retail and food and beverage sectors last month rose by 3.2 and 4.1 percent respectively from a year earlier, accelerating from 1.1 percent and 1.8 percent the previous month, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
Last month’s growth also exceeded the ministry’s estimates of between 0.5 percent and 3.5 percent for retail sales and from 0.3 percent to 3.3 percent for food and beverage sales.
The ministry expects the growth momentum in the two sectors to extend into this month due to anniversary sale events at department stores, which are expected to boost seasonal demand for clothing, autumn and winter skincare products as well as restaurant consumption, it said in a report.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
As the two sectors’ sales in the first nine months of the year are at record highs for the same period, overall sales for the whole of this year are also expected to hit annual records, thanks to the arrival of the peak consumption season, it added.
Last month’s retail sales rose for the 37th consecutive month on an annual basis to NT$401.8 billion (US$12.52 billion), the highest level for the month of September, the ministry’s data showed.
It was driven mainly by increased consumption at automobile vendors, convenience stores, supermarkets, hypermarkets, apparel shops, cosmetics outlets, e-commerce sites, and information technology and consumer electronics shops, the ministry said.
That helped offset a drop in sales at household appliance stores, gas stations, and cigarette and beverage vendors, it said.
In the first nine months of this year, retail sales totaled NT$3.57 trillion, up 3 percent from a year earlier, the ministry’s data showed.
Meanwhile, sales in the food and beverage sector reached NT$84.6 billion last month, also a record for the month of September and rising for the second straight month on an annual basis, the ministry said.
The strong showing came as the Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations and firms’ special sale promotions boosted restaurant and beverage sales, while steady demand for in-flight and group meals continued to support catering services, it said.
In the first nine months, food and beverage sales rose 3.6 percent year-on-year to NT$774.1 billion, ministry data showed.
The ministry said it expects retail sales to grow between 1.7 percent and 4.7 percent and food and beverage sales to increase 0.4 percent to 3.4 percent on an annual basis this month, as department stores’ anniversary sale events offset the negative impact of Typhoon Krathon, which hit Taiwan earlier this month.
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