According to economic data for the first three quarters released by the National Bureau of Statistics, total retail sales of consumer goods and services grew 2.6% year on year, with retail sales of services increasing 5.0%, 4 percentage points faster than retail sales of goods. Tourism and other service consumption continued to grow relatively quickly.

The faster growth in retail sales of services than in retail sales of goods reflects the relatively rapid growth of service consumption during this period. Performance in areas such as tourism provides one perspective for observing changes in the consumption mix.

However, the difference in overall growth rates does not mean that all service consumption sectors grew at the same pace, nor does it directly indicate the operating conditions of tourism-related businesses. Going forward, attention can be paid to changes in retail sales of services and whether growth in tourism and other service consumption can be sustained.