TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s retail sales totaled NT$390 billion (US$12.19 billion) in June, a 2.9% year-on-year decline and the third consecutive monthly drop, the Ministry of Economic Affairs reported Wednesday.

Huang Wei-chieh (黃偉傑), an official at the ministry’s statistics department, attributed the decline primarily to the impact of US tariff policies on consumer spending, which has notably affected the purchase of high-priced goods, per CNA.

The largest segment in the sector, general merchandise retail, recorded NT$124.1 billion in sales, up 1.9% from a year earlier. Convenience store sales rose 4.6%, supermarkets 5.9%, and hypermarkets 3.8%, while department store sales declined 3.6%.

Online shopping reached NT$41 billion, up 8.9% year-on-year, driven by continued improvements to e-commerce platforms and membership expansion. For the first half of the year, e-commerce sales totaled NT$196.9 billion, up 2.4% from the same period in 2024.

Sales in the food, beverage, and tobacco category grew 7.7% year-on-year. In contrast, motor vehicle and scooter retail sales fell 17.3%, fabric and apparel declined 6.3%, and pharmaceuticals and cosmetics dropped 0.9%.

Retail sales for the first half of 2025 reached NT$2.36 trillion, the second-highest on record for the period, though down 0.4% year-on-year.

Taiwan’s foodservice sector generated NT$85.3 billion in sales, a 2% drop from the previous year. Restaurant sales declined 3.6%, while beverage shops gained 2.6% and institutional catering, including airline meal services, grew 8.4%. In the first half of this year, foodservice revenue totaled NT$531.4 billion, up 3% year-on-year.

The ministry also reported wholesale sales of NT$1.9 trillion in June, up 3% from a year earlier. Growth was led by a 12.7% increase in machinery and equipment wholesale, boosted by demand for AI servers, chips, and semiconductor equipment. However, motor vehicle wholesale sales fell 18.7%, and building materials dropped 5.4%.

Looking ahead, Huang forecast that due to the continued appreciation of the New Taiwan dollar and the impact of US tariff policies, wholesale and retail sales could decline by 1% to 2% year-on-year in July. Meanwhile, foodservice revenue is expected to rise between 1.3% and 4.3%, year-on-year.