TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of Economic Affairs announced on Tuesday that Taiwan's retail sales in January reached NT$445.1 billion (US$ 14.6 billion).

The figure set a record, rising 5.3% compared to the same period last year. Sales of general merchandise, which accounted for the largest share, reached NT$148 billion, a 15.1% year-on-year increase, per CNA.

Hypermarkets within the general merchandise sector generated NT$27.6 billion in revenue, reflecting a 16.1% increase. Department stores also saw a significant rise of 20.9%, and supermarkets experienced a 15.5% increase.

The ministry said that due to the Lunar New Year and weather conditions, textile and apparel sales rose 18.9% year-on-year in January. Sales of food and beverages also grew by 8.5%.

Retail sales of pharmaceuticals and cosmetics increased 13.2% year-on-year. However, due to the Lunar New Year holiday, automobile and motorcycle sales fell 9.1%.

The ministry also reported January foodservice revenue reached NT$103.9 billion, up 15.8% from a year earlier. Restaurants saw record sales of NT$86 billion, an 18.6% rise, while beverage shops also set a record with NT$12.3 billion in sales, up 5.5%.

However, wholesale revenue in January totaled NT$1.6 trillion, a 5.3% year-on-year decline. Automotive wholesale dropped 16.5%, building materials wholesale fell 14.4%, machinery wholesale decreased 2%, and chemical materials wholesale declined 11.5%. Pharmaceutical and cosmetic wholesale sales grew 0.4%.

Huang Wei-chieh (黃偉傑), an official at the ministry’s statistics department, estimated that retail sector revenue in February would range from NT$364.5 billion to NT$375.6 billion. During the same period, foodservice industry revenue is expected to fall between NT$86.2 billion and NT$88.9 billion.