Taiwan's retail sales down for 4 straight months in July

Taipei, Aug. 30 (CNA) Taiwan's retail sales fell by more than 3 percent from a year earlier in July, marking the fourth consecutive month of year-on-year decline, as consumers scaled back their purchases amid uncertainties created by the U.S. tariff policies, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).

Data compiled by the MOEA showed that retail sales in July fell 3.6 percent from a year earlier to NT$388.4 billion (US$12.69 billion). The decline was the steepest in four months.

The MOEA said economic uncertainties affected sales of durable goods such as cars, as well as luxury goods.

Sales posted by car and motorcycle vendors in July fell 19.7 percent from a year earlier to NT$70.6 billion as potential buyers postponed their purchases, waiting for an auto tariff on cars made in the United States to be finalized.

Sales posted by department stores and hypermarket chains also fell, by 0.1 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively, to NT$32.4 billion and NT$20.0 billion in July, but revenue generated by supermarkets and convenience stores rose 1.1 percent and 3.0 percent, respectively, to NT$23.3 billion and NT$38.8 billion, the MOEA said.

Chen Yu-fang (陳玉芳), deputy head of the MOEA's Department of Statistics, said excluding the car and motorcycle industry, local retail sales would have risen 1.3 percent from a year earlier in July, indicating momentum in retail sales remained in place.

However, Chen still cautioned about the impact resulting from the U.S. tariff policies, saying it was hard to predict how domestic demand will evolve amid such uncertainties.

In July, the food and beverage industry posted NT$87.1 billion in sales, up 2.8 percent from a year earlier, reversing a 2.0 percent decline in June, as many restaurants and drinks vendors launched promotional campaigns to boost buying, the MOEA said.

Meanwhile, revenue posted by the local wholesale sector rose 0.2 percent from a year earlier to NT$1.12 trillion, reflecting strong demand for AI servers, memory chips, and other electronics components, the MOEA said.

Chen said AI and other emerging technologies are expected to drive sales growth of the local wholesale industry in the second half of this year, but old economy industries such as building material and chemical item vendors will likely experience fragile demand.

As for the first seven months of this year, retail sales totaled 2.75 trillion, down 0.8 percent from a year earlier, while revenue posted by the wholesale sector rose 7.6 percent to NT$7.93 trillion and sales generated by the food and beverage industry grew 3.0 percent to NT$618.5 billion, the MOEA said.

According to Chen, retail sales in August are expected to range between NT$380.7 billion and NT$392.4 billion, representing a growth range of negative 2.4 percent to positive 0.6 percent from a year earlier, while sales of the wholesales sector are expected to hit NT$1.07 trillion to NT$1.11 trillion, marking a growth range of negative 1.3 percent to positive 1.7 percent from a year earlier.

For the food and beverage industry, sales for August are expected to range between NT$88.1 billion and NT$90.8 billion, or negative 1 percent to positive 2 percent from a year earlier, Chen said.