Offline Consumption Payments Up 2.2% in July, Growth Quickens 0.8 Points; Small Merchant Activity Improves
Leading indicators from the National Information Center under China's National Development and Reform Commission show that offline consumption continued to recover in July 2026, driving coordinated growth in goods and services spending. The value of consumption payments rose 2.2% year on year, accelerating by 0.8 percentage points from the previous month. Small merchant vitality strengthened, with the physical commerce vitality index, reflecting their operating conditions, climbing 3.1% month on month. Additionally, indices for merchant health and offline consumer vitality both rose, indicating sustained activity in the offline consumption sector.
Leading indicators released by the National Information Center, affiliated with the National Development and Reform Commission, show that China's offline consumption continued to heat up in July 2026, driving coordinated growth in goods and services consumption. In that month, the value of consumption payments rose 2.2% year on year, with growth accelerating by 0.8 percentage points from the previous month. The operating vitality of small and medium-sized merchants improved steadily, as the physical commerce vitality index, which reflects their operating conditions, rose 3.1% from the previous month.
In addition, the merchant health index and the offline consumer vitality index both increased month on month, indicating that the offline consumption sector remained broadly active. These data come from the leading indicators published by the National Information Center, reflecting the recent performance of the consumption sector.