In 2024, online consumption in China maintained rapid growth, while physical store retail goods stabilized and recovered.

The China National Business Information Center released the "Operation Status and Main Features of China's Consumer Goods Market in 2024". In 2024, the online retail sales of physical goods reached 12,787.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.5%, which was 3 percentage points faster than the growth rate of the total retail sales of consumer goods, accounting for 26.5%. New e-commerce models such as live streaming shopping and instant retail continued to expand, leading to a significant increase in online consumption. In 2024, the offline retail sales of goods increased by 1.8% year-on-year, a slowdown of 2.9 percentage points from the previous year; in the fourth quarter of last year, due to the increase in consumption promotion policies and more activities in physical stores, offline retail sales of goods increased by 4.1% year-on-year, a substantial increase of 2.9 percentage points from the third quarter. The dual drive of "policies + activities" stabilizes and improves the consumption market 1. The consumer goods market continues to steadily recover 2024 was the "year of consumption promotion". Various regions and relevant departments insisted on the dual drive of "policies + activities" to promote the continuous expansion of consumption. The total retail sales of consumer goods reached 48,334.5 billion yuan, an increase of 3.5% year-on-year. Faced with the slowdown in consumption growth in the second and third quarters, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China took timely and decisive actions, coordinating stock and increment policies, actively boosting market confidence and effectively releasing consumption potential. In the fourth quarter, China's consumption stabilized and improved, with growth accelerating by 1.1 percentage points compared to the third quarter. 2. Rural consumer goods market growth continues to outpace urban areas Driven by the rapid growth of rural residents' income and expenses, the retail sales of consumer goods in rural areas increased by 4.3% year-on-year, faster than urban areas by 0.9 percentage points, achieving continuous rapid growth for the third consecutive year since 2022. With the continuous advancement of the construction of county and rural commercial systems, the development of county and rural consumer markets has accelerated, with market share steadily increasing. The proportion of county and rural retail sales of consumer goods, including towns and rural areas, as a percentage of the total retail sales of consumer goods, was 38.8%, an increase of 0.4 percentage points from the previous year. 3. Online consumption maintains rapid growth New e-commerce models such as live stream shopping and instant retail continued to expand, significantly driving online consumption growth. In 2024, the online retail sales of physical goods reached 12,787.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.5%, which was 3 percentage points faster than the growth rate of the total retail sales of consumer goods, accounting for 26.5%. 4. Stability and recovery of offline retail sales In 2024, the offline retail sales of goods increased by 1.8% year-on-year, a slowdown of 2.9 percentage points from the previous year. Among them, stable growth of 1.5% and 1.2% was achieved in the first and third quarters, respectively, with a slowdown to 0.7% in the second quarter due to the off-season for offline consumption. In the fourth quarter, under the promotion of consumption policies such as trading in old for new and increased activities in physical stores, offline retail sales of goods increased by 4.1% year-on-year, a significant increase of 2.9 percentage points from the third quarter. 5. Rapid growth in retail sales of some upgraded goods Compared to the previous year's high growth rate of 11.2% in the sports and entertainment products category, it grew by another 11.1%. The communication equipment category increased by 9.9% year-on-year, an acceleration of 2.9 percentage points from the previous year. The consumption growth of related products for trading in old for new increased, with home appliances and sound equipment category growing by 12.3% year-on-year, a significant increase of 11.8 percentage points from the previous year; the furniture category grew by 3.6% year-on-year, an increase of 0.8 percentage points from the previous year. 6. The proportion of dining consumption increases In 2024, the overall scale of China's catering market continued to grow, with catering revenue increasing by 5.3% year-on-year, faster than that of retail goods by 2.1 percentage points, accounting for 11.4% of the total retail sales of consumer goods, an increase of 0.2 percentage points from the previous year. Dining demand showed characteristics of diversified development, with fast development of cost-effective dining options, while high-quality and specialized dining options also gained favor from consumers. 7. Sales of key large-scale retail enterprises nationwide stabilize According to statistics from the China National Business Information Center, retail sales of key large-scale retail enterprises in 2024 decreased by 1.2% year-on-year, a significantly smaller change compared to the years from 2020 to 2023, indicating that sales of key large-scale retail enterprises tend to stabilize. Among them, the first quarter saw a 3.2% year-on-year increase, showing relatively good growth momentum; the second and third quarters saw respective declines of 4.5% and 5.1% year-on-year, facing significant pressure on performance decline; in the fourth quarter, under the promotion of consumption policies such as trading in old for new, the market situation improved and the decline in retail sales narrowed to 0.1%. Significant achievements in trading in old for new, new consumption potential released 1. Significant achievements in trading in old for new consumer goods In 2024, trading in old for new consumer goods stood out as a highlight of consumption promotion work, with measures connecting supply and demand, benefiting both enterprises and consumers, benefiting the present and the long-term. It is a significant decision made by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council in view of China's high-quality development. The country invested 150 billion yuan in long-term special treasury bonds to promote the exchange of "energy" for automobiles, "intelligence" for home appliances, "renewal" for home furnishing kitchens and bathrooms, and to trade in old electric bicycles for new ones, collectively driving sales of related products to over 1.3 trillion yuan and boosting the annual social retail growth by 1 percentage point. 2. Service consumption promotes the expansion and upgrading of the consumption market In 2024, service consumption was an important lever for expanding and upgrading China's consumption market. The State Council issued the "Opinions on Promoting the High-Quality Development of Service Consumption", systematically deploying to optimize and expand service supply, better meet the personalized, diversified, and quality service consumption needs of the people. The per capita service consumption expenditure of the national residents was 13,016 yuan, an increase of 7.4% year-on-year, faster than the per capita consumption expenditure growth by 2.1 percentage points. Service retail sales increased by 6.2% year-on-year, faster than goods retail by 3 percentage points. 3. County-level consumption markets show new vitality The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council attach great importance to county-level economy, with the county-level commercial circulation system continuously improving, and county-level consumption markets rapidly developing. In 2024, chain enterprises and e-commerce platforms accelerated their layout in county-level markets, new formats such as coffee shops, milk tea shops, and gyms quickly spread in rural areas, and the penetration rate of digital consumption infrastructure in county-level markets continued to rise, promoting the quality, diversity, and personalized development of local residents' consumption demands. 4. Continued release of new consumption potential In 2024, the new consumption market presented a digitalized, intelligentized trend.The development characteristics of greenization, healthization, and localization bring new directions and opportunities for innovation in the consumer goods market. Among them, new formats and models such as digital cultural tourism and digital healthcare are emerging one after another, showing the rapid growth potential of markets such as smart homes and wearable technology. Chinese-style products and cultural experiences are popular, and the health consumption market continues to expand.5. The momentum of the first store economy is strong. In 2024, the Central Economic Work Conference clearly proposed "actively developing the first store economy" as an important measure to expand domestic demand and promote consumption. The Ministry of Commerce and seven other departments issued the "Retail Industry Innovation and Promotion Engineering Implementation Plan", supporting activities such as the first store, first exhibition, and first show. With continuous policy support and market expansion, the first store economy continues to grow rapidly, injecting new momentum into the high-quality development of the Chinese economy.