MACAO - The value of retail sales in China's Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) for the first quarter of 2019 decreased by 1.9 percent year-on-year to 20.38 billion patacas ($2.52 billion), yet up by 2.6 percent quarter-on-quarter, the SAR's statistics service said on Friday.

Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that in the first quarter, the value of retail sales of watches, clocks and jewelry accounted for 20.9 percent of the total, followed by goods in department stores (17.6 percent), leather goods (13.6 percent) and adults' clothing (12.4 percent).

The volume of retail sales fell by 2.1 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, with significant decline in the sales volumes of motor vehicles, communication equipment and adults' clothing.

In respect of retailers'comments, 54.0 percent of the retailers anticipated the sales volume in the second quarter of 2019 to stay stable year-on-year, 28.6 percent forecasted a decrease and 17.4 percent expected an increase. Meanwhile, 75.4 percent of the retailers anticipated the retail prices to remain steady year-on-year in the second quarter.