[Breaking] China April Retail Sales Down 11.1% YoY... Sharp Decline Amid Zero-COVID Policy

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] China's consumer goods sales in April plummeted by more than 11% compared to the previous year, the National Bureau of Statistics of China announced on the 16th. This is interpreted as a sharp decline in consumption due to the zero-COVID policy following the resurgence of COVID-19.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics of China, retail sales in April decreased by 11.1% year-on-year. This is a significant drop compared to the market forecast of -6.1% and the previous month's -3.5%. It is the largest decline since March 2020, during the early stages of COVID-19 in Wuhan, Hubei Province, when sales fell by -15.8%.

Industrial production in the same month fell by 2.9% (market forecast 0.4%, previous month 5.0%). This is the lowest since February 2020, when it dropped by -13.5%. It is the first time since the Wuhan outbreak that China's monthly industrial production has fallen into negative territory.

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