MACAO - An official survey released on Tuesday showed the total value of Macao's retail sales for the year of 2010 amounted to 29.5 billion patacas ($3.68 billion), a rise of 32 percent year-on-year.
Notable increases were recorded in the retail sales of Leather goods (64 percent), Watches, clocks and jewelry (48 percent) and Motor Vehicles (43 percent), according to the results of an industry survey conducted by Macao's Statistics and Census Service (DSEC).
The figures also indicated that value of retail sales for the fourth quarter of 2010 amounted to 8.18 billion patacas ($1.02 billion) up by 25 percent year-on-year, while in comparison with the revised figure in the third quarter, value of retail sales for the period increased by nine percent.
Meanwhile, the survey also showed that about 19 percent of the retailers reported decrease in the sales volume from the third quarter, and 81 percent reported that the sales volume remained stable or showed increase.
In terms of retail prices, about 52 percent of the interviewed retailers reported that the prices were stable, whereas 36 percent reported increasing prices.
Regarding the business outlook for the first quarter of 2011, about 79 percent expected sales volume to increase or remain stable compared with the fourth quarter of 2010, and about 89 percent expected the retail prices to remain stable or increase, according to the survey.