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.

Everyday Economic News Reporter | Zhou Yifei Everyday Economic Editor | Huang Bowen

On March 16, the State Council Information Office held a press conference, where the National Bureau of Statistics introduced the economic performance 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 Comprehensive Statistics on the National Economy, stated that from consumption, this year’s long Spring Festival holiday 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. The total retail sales of consumer goods increased by 2.8% year-on-year in January and February, 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 important 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 Daily Economic News

Online short drama platform transaction volume increased over 30% in January and 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, retail sales of tourism consulting, rental services, and cultural and recreational 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 consumption has led to a significant increase in sales of basic daily necessities. In the first two months, retail sales of grain, oil, food, clothing, shoes, hats, and textiles above designated size grew by 10.2% and 10.4%, respectively. The main reason for fast growth in basic necessities is 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 replacement of old products with new policies continues to show,” Fu Linghui said. “In January and February, retail sales of communication equipment above designated size increased by 17.8%, maintaining rapid growth; retail sales of household appliances and audio-visual equipment increased by 3.3%, significantly rebounding from December. Among these products, high-efficiency energy products maintained double-digit growth, reflecting an expanding demand for green products.”

Third, the development of new 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. Online goods retail sales grew by 10.3%, outpacing overall merchandise retail growth, further boosting consumption. Online service consumption remains hot, with retail sales of online services increasing by 7.3% year-on-year in January and February, 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 and February. Meanwhile, green consumption, health consumption, and the debut economy continue to promote consumption growth.

Fu Linghui emphasized that overall, market sales in January and February showed positive changes, with increased growth momentum. This is the result of combined effects from policies promoting consumption, consumption upgrades, and the growth of new consumption drivers. Looking ahead, upgrading residents’ consumption structure and strengthening new consumption drivers will remain key factors. A series of policies to promote consumption will further support growth, and consumption is expected to continue steady expansion. 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, implement quality improvement and benefit initiatives for service consumption, continuously optimize the consumption environment, and release consumption potential in cultural tourism, events, health and wellness sectors, to 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’s release of consumption-related indicators includes an important change: the first-time publication 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 broadens the scope of online service platform statistics and enhances the measurement of online service retail.

Fu Linghui said, “Previously, the online retail sales indicator 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, mainly reflecting key platform service retail.”

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” data, they have optimized and expanded the scope to include more online service retail platforms, and now measure and publish the “Online Service Retail” indicator.

At the same time, the original “Physical Goods Online Retail” indicator has been renamed “Online Goods Retail,” with no change in scope or meaning; the “Online Retail” 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 figure, mainly due to the increase in online service retail.

Cover photo source: Zhou Yifei, reporter for Daily Economic News