Taipei, June 30 (CNA) Due to a continued economic recovery, retail sales in Taiwan rose more than 5 percent from a year earlier, marking the fourth consecutive month of a year-on-year increase, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).
In addition, a booming equity market, in which the weighted index on the local main board has sustained its strength above the 10,000-point mark after it closed above that level for the first time in 17 years in May 2017, also encouraged consumers to buy, the MOEA said.
The better-than-expected retail sales growth in May came after solid demand for vehicles, fuel, information communication devices and home appliances/furniture in the month, the MOEA said.
In May, retail sales rose 5.7 percent from a year earlier to NT$356.5 billion (US$11.59 billion), after a year-on-year increase of 3.6 percent in April, data compiled by the MOEA showed. The May figure also rose 4.8 percent from a month earlier, the data indicated.
In terms of retail industries, the MOEA said the auto industry got a boost from rising demand for imported models with sales volume of imported cars, which carried higher price tags, up 10.8 percent in May compared to a year ago, which offset a decline of 6.1 percent suffered by locally-made cars.
As a result, sales generated by the auto and motorcycle industry for May rose 5.5 percent to NT$53.8 billion, the MOEA added.
The information communication and home appliance industry posted an 11.5 percent year-on-year increase in retail sales in May, when the amount totaled NT$29.9 billion in the wake of rising buying in summer sale campaigns, including the Mother's Day discount offers, the MOEA said.
In May, sales generated by department stores rose 0.1 percent from a year earlier to NT$27.5 billion, while revenue generated by hypermarket chain owners fell 0.7 percent to NT$15.5 billion, the MOEA added.
Sales generated by super market chains and convenience store chains rose 7.3 percent and 5.1 percent, respectively, from a year earlier to NT$18 billion and NT$29.1 billion in May, according to the MOEA.
At the same time, the local wholesale sector also benefited at a time when Taiwan's economy continued to recover.
Revenue generated by the wholesale sector rose 7.4 percent from a year earlier to NT$871.9 billion, marking the third consecutive month of an increase, after a 2.8 percent rise seen in April, the MOEA said.
Meanwhile, the local food/beverage sector also rode the waves of rising demand in May, generating NT$39.8 billion in sales in May, up 3.9 percent from a year earlier. It was the fourth consecutive month of a sales increase for the sector, the MOEA added.
As for the first five months of this year, retail sales during this period rose 4.7 percent from a year earlier to NT$1.75 trillion, while revenue posted by the wholesale and food/beverage sectors also gained 4.5 percent and 4.0 percent, respectively, to NT$4.11 trillion and NT$196.1 billion.
The MOEA said sales of the three sectors -- retail, wholesale and food/beverage -- are expected to continue to move higher in the second half of this year, but due to a relatively high comparison base over the same period of last year, the growth momentum could be compromised.
(By Liao Yu-yang and Frances Huang)
Enditem/cs