Macao retailers racked up 16.96 billion patacas (US$2.12 billion) in sales during the third quarter of this year, a rise of 2.2 percent against the 16.59 billion patacas (US$2.07 billion) reported from the same quarter in 2024. The latest third quarter total puts an end to six consecutive quarters of year-on-year decline.
It also represents a jump of 5.3 percent against the second quarter’s 15.97 billion patacas (US$1.98 billion), according to the Statistics and Census Service (known by its Portuguese initials DSEC).
The DSEC noted that there were three types of products “driving the growth in the total value of retail sales” during the third quarter. They included cosmetics and sanitary items, which experienced the largest sales value increase in the third quarter, with the DSEC reporting a year-on-year rise of 22 percent to 551 million patacas (US$69 million)
In second place were watches and jewellery, which experienced a surge of 14.5 percent to 3.89 billion patacas (US$487.26 million), and pharmacy sales, which reported an increase of 11 percent to 547 million patacas (US$68.51 million).
By contrast, the value of motor vehicle sales dropped 28.4 percent year-on-year, hitting 500 million patacas (US$62.63 million). Automotive fuels also fared poorly, declining by 19.4 percent over the same period last year, with a total value of 323 million patacas (US$40.45 million) in the third quarter.
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Overall, retail sales in the first three quarters of this year totalled 50.56 billion patacas (US$6.33 billion), down 5.4 percent when compared to the 53.48 billion patacas (US$6.69 billion) from the same period in 2024.
Pharmacies were the only retailers to register a cumulative increase in sales value between January and September, with this sector recording 1.61 billion patacas (US$201.67 million) in sales over this period, up by 7.8 percent.
On the flip side, the sharpest declines over the first three quarters were reported by stores selling automotive fuels and leather foods. The former recorded a sales value of 954 million patacas (US$119.5 million), down by 11.6 percent, while the latter’s sales totalled 9.8 billion patacas (US$1.23 billion), a fall of 11.1 percent.
Looking ahead, 46.8 percent of the surveyed retailers expected the sales volume to remain stable in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, 43.5 percent forecast a decrease, with the remaining 9.7 percent predicting an increase.
As for the fourth quarter retail prices, 77.7 percent of businesses anticipated stability, 11.6 percent forecasted a decrease, while 10.7 percent believed it would increase.
In terms of their business performance in the final quarter, 47.1 percent of the interviewed retailers expressed confidence that it would remain stable. The remaining 33.9 percent and 19 percent respectively voiced unfavourable and favourable opinions.
