Taipei, July 23, 2008 (CENS)--With consumers tightening their purse strings amid economic slowdown and mounting inflationary pressure, retail sales in Taiwan edged down 0.4% year-on-year to NT$268.8 billion in June, the first such decline since October 2006 when the twin-card debt storm was ravaging Taiwan, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).

The hardest-hit sector was auto/motorcycle and parts sector, whose sales plunged 24.04% year-on-year in the month, the largest drop since March 2006. In view of the soaring gasoline prices, local people were reluctant to buy cars, as a result of which auto sale, as measured by the number of new auto license plates, plummeted 28% year-on-year. In the first half this year, auto sale tumbled 22%.

Motorcycle sales jumped 16.1% year-on-year in June, as many people substituted motorcycles for autos, which, though, failed to bolster the overall sale of auto/motorcycle and parts, since motorcycle accounts for only 10% of the sale of the sector.

Non-store sale bucked the trend, scoring 12.29% sale growth, the highest among various retail sectors, in June, notably direct sale, TV shopping, and online shopping.

Despite the vigorous promotional activities of major department stores, retail sale of general commodities only advanced 3.5% to NT$63 billion in June, with total sale in the first half rising 5.2% to NT$389.5 billion.

Of the amount, the sale of convenience-store chains inched up 0.97% in June, that of supermarkets grew 10.89%, and that of department stores rose 5.24%.

(by Philip Liu)