By
Bloomberg Published December 19, 2024 Reading time
4 minutes Download
Print
Text size

China’s unexpected retail slowdown shows urgency to boost demand

By
Bloomberg Published
December 19, 2024

China’s retail sales growth unexpectedly weakened in November despite signs of improvement in the housing market, highlighting the urgency for Beijing to further encourage residents to spend.

Retail sales rose 3% from a year ago, the slowest pace in three months and undershooting even the most bearish of forecasts. Industrial output increased 5.4%, keeping momentum as the manufacturing side of the economy continues to outperform consumer spending.

“The data show that the recovery in domestic demand has remained sluggish, while the stabilization in industrial production was likely due to some order front-loading ahead of US tariffs and is not sustainable,” said Michelle Lam, Greater China economist at Societe Generale SA.