BEIJING, June 17 (Xinhua) -- China's retail sales of consumer goods, a major indicator of the country's consumption strength, climbed 4pennfierce38000ll.1 percent year on year in the first five months of 2024, official data showed Mondaypennfierce38000ll.

Retail sales during the period topped 19.52 trillion yuan (about 2.74 trillion U.S. dollars), according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

Online retail sales jumped 12.4 percent year on year to nearly 5.77 trillion yuan in the January-May period, with online retail sales of physical goods expanding 11.5 percent and accounting for 24.7 percent of the total retail sales of consumer goods.

In May alone, retail sales of consumer goods expanded 3.7 percent year on year to top 3.92 trillion yuan, the data showed. Meanwhile, retail sales excluding automobiles went up 4.7 percent to over 3.53 trillion yuan.

Retail sales in rural areas expanded 4.1 percent year on year to 510 billion yuan in May, while that in urban areas increased 3.7 percent to over 3.41 trillion yuan.

In May, retail sales of goods rose 3.6 percent from a year ago to more than 3.49 trillion yuan, while catering revenue hit 427.4 billion yuan, an increase of 5 percent year on year.■