Macau's retail sales volume index of watches, clocks and jewellery leaped 1,015.8 percent in the second quarter year on year, the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) announced today.
According to a DSEC statement, the retail sector's sales value of watches, clocks and jewellery rose 957.9 percent year on year in the second quarter.
The bureau defines the value of retail sales as "the total value of retail sales and receipts from rendering services during the reference period, irrespective of whether the sales are made in cash or on credit." Its volume index of retail sales "is an indicator that measures the changes in sales volume after adjusting for price changes." The average sales volume index for the base period (from April 2015 to March 2016) is set as 100, according to the technical note of its quarterly Retail Sales Survey.
Macau's total value of retail sales grew 200.0 percent year on year to 20.70 billion patacas (US$2.58 billion) between April and June, while the sector's sales volume index increased 219.0 percent after removing the effect of price changes.
According to the DSEC statement, "the significant growth was due to the relatively low base of comparison in the same quarter last year."
Macau confirmed its first COVID-19 case on January 22, 2020. The local economy was particularly hard hit by the impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic in the first half of last year.
The bureau pointed out that most of Macau's major retail activities recorded a year-on-year increase in sales value in the second quarter of this year such as leather goods (+504.0 percent) and communications equipment (+460.4 percent). However, supermarkets' sales value dropped 11.3 percent.
In the first half of the year, the value of retail sales rose 118.4 percent to 39.46 billion patacas, while the sector's sales volume index increased 130.4 percent.
