Sales in Taiwan’s food and beverage sector plummeted in July compared to a year earlier as measures to contain a COVID-19 outbreak reined in consumer spending, according to Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) statistics released on Monday.
Food and beverage sales in July fell 38.8 percent from July 2020 to NT$42.6 billion (US$1.52 billion), after a 39.9 percent nosedive to NT$38.3 billion in June, the MOEA figures showed.
The fall was also the third consecutive monthly decline compared to a year earlier, as consumer activity was hurt by a major COVID-19 outbreak in mid-May.
In a statement, the MOEA attributed the declines to bans on on-site dining and drinking at restaurants and stores and other restrictions that were imposed in mid-May under a Level 3 alert after COVID-19 cases surged to over 100 per day.
The alert was downgraded late in the month on July 27, and it did provide a small boost to sales compared to the previous month, said MOEA Department of Statistics deputy chief Huang Wei-chieh (???).
Overall food and beverage sales in July rose by 11.1 percent from June while sales at restaurants rose 12.3 percent to NT$35.5 billion.
The figures indicated that as restrictions eased to allow in-person dining under the Level 2 alert, people did start to go out and dine at restaurants.
“The recovery in on-site dining was better than expected,” Huang said.
In the first seven months of the year, food and beverage sales were down 7.4 percent despite a relatively low base of comparison in 2020.
Meanwhile, retail sales in July fell by 10.3 percent year-on-year to NT$301.5 billion while sales in the wholesale sector rose 11.1 percent from the previous year to NT$1.01 trillion, the MOEA data showed.
Despite the weak sales in July, retail sales were still up 3.3 percent in the January-July period from a year earlier to NT$2.22 trillion, while wholesale sales rose 17.3 percent during that time to NT$6.83 trillion.
In July, growing demand for 5G and artificial intelligence technology applications and video conferencing services pushed up sales of memory chips, computers, tablets and silicon chips, leading to a 13.4 percent rise in wholesale sales of machinery and equipment to NT$426.7 billion, the MOEA said.
Wholesale sales of construction materials rose 50.1 percent year on year in July to NT$127.7 billion due to rising demand and steel price hikes, the ministry said.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel