Sales in the retail, and the food and beverage sectors in the first two months of this year rose to the highest for the period on record on the back of holiday shopping, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
Retail sales climbed 1.1 percent from a year earlier to NT$801.5 billion (US$24.23 billion) in the first two months, with vehicle and motorcycle vendors, drink and tobacco retailers, and pharmacies and cosmetics stores the main drivers, the ministry said in a report.
Food and beverage sales grew 4.1 percent in the period to NT$188.5 billion on across-the-board growth in restaurants, beverage outlets and catering service providers, the report said.
Photo: Lee Hui-chou, Taipei Times
The ministry released the data for the first two months to factor out the effects of the week-long Lunar New Year holiday — which was mostly in January this year, but was in February last year — when many businesses were closed.
However, the figures missed forecasts by the ministry, which had projected retail sales in the first two months to increase by 2.2 to 3.6 percent and by 5.1 percent to 6.6 percent in the food and beverage sector.
The ministry blamed the underperformance of the two sectors on an explosion at the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Zhonggang department store in Taichung on Feb. 13, coupled with cold and wet weather, as well as a persistent tourism deficit.
This month, the ministry expects the two sectors to post annual sales growth, thanks to special sales promotions related to International Women’s Day, White Day — when men give reciprocal gifts to women who gave them Valentine’s Day gifts the month before — and other festive events, as well as the effects of new store openings and digital marketing strategies, the report said.
Retail sales are predicted to be between a 0.6 percent drop to a 2.4 percent gain from March last year to between NT$389.1 billion and NT$400.8 billion this month, while food and beverage sales are expected to increase 1.3 to 4.3 percent to between NT$84.2 billion and NT$86.7 billion, it said.
Sales generated by the wholesale sector increased 8.8 percent year-on-year to NT$2.14 trillion in the first two months, also the highest for the period and exceeding the ministry’s forecast of an annual increase of 3.9 to 5.2 percent, the report said.
The better-than-expected performance was mainly attributable to the machinery equipment industry, which posted a 21.2 percent year-on-year sales increase and registered its 14th consecutive month of growth, the report said.
For this month, sales for the wholesale sector are projected to increase 8 to 11 percent year-on-year to between NT$1.16 trillion and NT$1.19 trillion, the ministry added.
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