How will consumer spending trends develop this year? National Bureau of Statistics: Upgrading of residents' consumption structure and expansion of new consumption momentum remain important factors driving consumption growth.

The Daily Economic News reporter | Zhou Yifei The Daily Economic News editor | Huang Bowen

On March 16, the State Council Information Office held a press conference, where the National Bureau of Statistics introduced the economic operation from January to February 2026.

At the meeting, Fu Linghui, spokesperson for the National Bureau of Statistics, Chief Economist, and Director of the Department of National Economic Comprehensive Statistics, stated that from consumption’s perspective, since the beginning of the year, the long holiday during the Spring Festival has had a significant driving effect. Policies promoting replacement of old goods with new ones continue to be effective. Cultural tourism and leisure entertainment markets are quite active, service consumption is growing rapidly, and market sales have noticeably rebounded. From January to February, total retail sales of consumer goods increased by 2.8% year-on-year, accelerating by 1.9 percentage points compared to December last year, mainly reflecting product sales; service retail sales grew by 5.6%, significantly faster than merchandise retail growth.

Fu Linghui believes that looking ahead, the upgrading of residents’ consumption structure and the strengthening of new consumption drivers remain key factors influencing consumption growth. The implementation of a series of policies to promote consumption will further support growth, and consumption is expected to continue stable expansion.

Press conference scene Photo source: Zhou Yifei, reporter for The Daily Economic News

Online short drama platform transaction volume increased by over 30% in January-February

Boosting consumption is a key focus this year. After the holiday consumption boom, how will the consumption trend develop this year?

Fu Linghui identified three main trends.

First, steady expansion of service consumption. Driven by the Spring Festival holiday, residents’ cultural tourism consumption has increased significantly, boosting related service sales. In the first two months of this year, retail sales of tourism consulting, rental services, and cultural and leisure services all maintained rapid growth of over 10%.

During the Spring Festival, nearly 600 million domestic trips were made, with total travel expenses exceeding 800 billion yuan, setting a new record. Additionally, the expansion of visa-free entry policies has increased inbound tourists, further promoting domestic market sales. During the holiday, social gatherings and activities increased, and dining out consumption expanded noticeably. In the first two months, catering revenue increased by 4.8% year-on-year, accelerating by 2.6 percentage points compared to December last year.

Second, quality and upgrading of merchandise consumption. Residents’ consumption quality is steadily improving, and the holiday-driven demand has significantly expanded sales of basic daily necessities. In the first two months, retail sales of grain, oil, food, clothing, shoes, hats, and textiles above designated size increased by 10.2% and 10.4%, respectively. The rapid growth in basic necessities is mainly due to residents’ higher demands for product quality and grade, with total food consumption limited, and sales growth driven more by increased demand for green and healthy foods. Under the influence of consumption upgrades, sales of development-oriented and improvement-oriented products grew rapidly. In the first two months, retail sales of gold, silver, jewelry, and related items above designated size increased by 13% year-on-year.

“The effect of the policies promoting replacement of old products with new ones continues to show,” Fu Linghui said. “In January and February, retail sales of communication equipment above designated size grew by 17.8%, maintaining rapid growth; retail sales of household appliances and audio-visual equipment increased by 3.3%, a clear rebound from December. Among these products, high-efficiency energy products maintained double-digit growth, reflecting an increasing demand for green products,” he added.

Third, the development of new forms of consumption is positive. With the growth of online and digital consumption, online retail sales continue to expand. In the first two months, online retail sales of goods and services increased by 9.2% year-on-year, significantly faster than total retail sales of consumer goods. Specifically, online goods retail sales grew by 10.3%, outpacing overall merchandise retail growth and further boosting consumption. Online service consumption remains hot; in January-February, online service retail sales increased by 7.3% year-on-year, also faster than total service retail sales. This year, the online short drama market has been particularly popular, with platform monitoring showing that transaction volume on online short drama platforms increased by over 30% in January-February. Meanwhile, green consumption, health-oriented consumption, and the “first launch economy” continue to promote consumption growth.

Fu Linghui emphasized that overall, the market showed positive changes in sales and increased growth momentum in January-February. This is the result of combined effects from policies promoting consumption, consumption upgrades, and the growth of new consumption drivers. Looking ahead, the upgrading of residents’ consumption structure and the strengthening of new consumption drivers will remain key factors. The implementation of a series of policies to promote consumption will further support growth, and stable, sustained consumption is expected. Of course, building a strong domestic market and stimulating residents’ internal consumption motivation still require ongoing efforts.

“In the next stage, we will leverage our large-scale market advantages, implement targeted actions to boost consumption, develop plans to increase residents’ income in urban and rural areas, promote expansion and upgrading of merchandise consumption, improve service consumption quality for the benefit of the people, continuously optimize the consumption environment, and release consumption potential in cultural tourism, events, health and wellness sectors. This will stimulate consumption vitality, better promote economic circulation, and continuously improve people’s livelihoods,” Fu Linghui said.

First release of “Online Goods and Services Retail Sales” indicator, while suspending the “Online Retail Sales” indicator

The Daily Economic News reporter found that the data on the national economic operation from January to February included a new indicator: “Online Goods and Services Retail Sales.” What was the consideration behind this?

Fu Linghui further explained that this year, among the new consumption-related indicators, there is an important change: the first release of the “Online Goods and Services Retail Sales” indicator, while the “Online Retail Sales” indicator has been discontinued.

According to the explanation, “Online Goods and Services Retail Sales” is an optimized and improved version of the original online retail sales indicator. The main difference is that it expands the scope of online service platforms included in the statistics and strengthens the measurement of online service retail sales.

Fu Linghui said, “The previously released online retail sales mainly included two parts: one is physical goods online retail sales, mainly reflecting online sales of tangible products; the other is non-physical goods online retail sales, mainly reflecting key platform service retail sales.”

He added that in recent years, as online services have developed rapidly, the National Bureau of Statistics has strengthened online service retail statistics. Based on the original “non-physical goods online retail sales,” the scope has been expanded to include more online service retail platforms, and the new “Online Service Retail Sales” indicator has been introduced.

At the same time, the original “Physical Goods Online Retail Sales” indicator has been renamed “Online Goods Retail Sales,” with no change in scope or definition; the “Online Retail Sales” indicator has been renamed “Online Goods and Services Retail Sales.” This adjustment has expanded the total volume of online goods and services retail sales compared to the previous online retail sales, mainly due to the increase in online service retail sales.