Revenue for 2022 likely to exceed 2019 figures
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Department stores are on course for higher revenue in 2022 than in 2019, the last full year before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said Thursday (Jan. 5).
The total revenue for the period from January through November last year reached NT$353.7 billion ($11.52 billion), compared to the NT$323.5 billion recorded for the same period in 2019, the Liberty Times reported. The 2022 figure did not include the month of December, when department stores should have benefited from the reopening of Taiwan’s borders to tourists and from year-end shopping sprees.
During 2020 and 2021, department stores saw their revenue decline amid the expansion of COVID, as the government imposed temporary restrictions on travel and eating out.
The MOEA described department stores as an important indicator of the level of private consumption and the health of the retail sector. Total revenue for the stores in 2022 was likely to have set a record, the MOEA data showed.