Japan Retail Sector "Shanghai business environment: April sales growth i..."

Research evidence excerpt

Japan Retail Sector "Shanghai business environment: April sales growth i..."

Global Research

21 May 2026ab

Japan Retail Sector Equities

JapanShanghai business environment: April sales

growth in cosmetics, apparel, and food Retail

Takahiro Kazahaya

Analyst

takahiro.kazahaya@ubs.com

Summary +81-3-5208 6226

On 20 May, the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Statistics announced total retail value of Kazuki Oike

consumer goods sales for April. Here we present an overview of the data and Associate Analyst

implications. kazuki.oike@ubs.com

+81-3-5208 6964

Shanghai total retail sales fell 1.3% yoy in April

According to the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Statistics, total retail sales of consumer

goods in April fell 1.3% yoy (March was +1.9% yoy), marking the first decline in 12

months. Looking at sales value by category at companies with sales above the specified

level, sales of food products increased 2.2% yoy, apparel sales rose 4.2%, cosmetics

sales increased 5.0%, gold, silver, and jewelry sales were down 11%, sales of daily

necessities fell 0.4%, home appliance sales declined 17.9%, sales of office supplies fell

5.1%, telecommunications equipment sales increased 0.1%, automobile-related sales

fell 17.8%, and restaurant sales dropped 0.3% (Figure 1YoychangeintotalretailsalesbycategoryforJan–Apr2026(enterprisesabovethesetscale)). For January-April, the total

retail value of consumer goods sales was up 3.9% yoy, and looking at sales value by

category at companies with sales above the specified level during the same period, food

product sales increased 4.8% yoy, apparel sales rose 8.9%, cosmetics sales increased

2.3%, gold, silver, and jewelry sales were up 6.4%, sales of daily necessities rose 3.0%,

home appliance sales declined 6.3%, sales of office supplies rose 7.5%,