FX.co ★ Taiwan Retail Sales Contract for Third Consecutive Month

In June, Taiwan experienced a 2.9% year-on-year decline in retail sales, marking the third consecutive month of negative growth. This followed a revised 1.4% decrease in May. The slump was largely due to ongoing economic uncertainties, weak consumer confidence, delays in imported vehicle deliveries, and a shorter holiday period compared to the previous year. Specific sectors saw notable declines: motor vehicles and motorcycles dropped by 17.3% (slightly improving from May's 18.0% decrease), textiles and clothing fell by 6.3% (down from a 0.8% increase previously), pharmaceuticals, medical goods, and cosmetics decreased by 0.9% (a contrast to May's 4.2% growth), and household appliances and goods declined by 2.0% (compared to a 0.8% drop). The growth in general merchandise sales slowed to 1.9% from 6.5%, food, beverages, and tobacco sales reduced to 7.7% from 11.5%, and electronics and home appliances saw a decrease in growth from 4.1% to 2.6%. However, there was an acceleration in sales for other retail categories (up to 6.8% from 3.5%) and construction materials (increasing to 4.5% from 3.3%). Notably, non-store retail sales rebounded, climbing to 4.9% from a previous decline of 1.7%. On a month-to-month basis, retail activity decreased by 1.5% in June, counteracting a 2.9% increase observed in May.