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China's December factory output up 5.2% y/y, retail sales miss forecast

BY Reuters | ECONOMIC | 01/18/26 09:06 PM EST

BEIJING, Jan 19 (Reuters) - China's industrial output rose ?5.2% in December from a ?year earlier, faster than the 4.8% pace ?in November, but ?retail sales ?growth slowed further, dousing momentum in the ?economy heading into ?2026 and adding pressure for more stimulus.

The output data ?from the National ?Bureau ?of Statistics (NBS) exceeded expectations for a 5.0% rise in a Reuters ?poll of 23 analysts.

Retail sales, a gauge of consumption, grew 0.9% in December, their weakest pace since December 2022 and ?down ?from the 1.3% growth in November. Analysts had forecast ?a 1.2% rise.

Fixed asset investment contracted 3.8% in 2025, the first annual drop since data became available in 1996 and compared with an ?expected 3% decline. It fell 3.3% in the January-to-November period. (Reporting by Ethan Wang and ?Ryan Woo; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)

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