China's resident nominal disposable income up 5.1% in Q1

BEIJING -- China's per capita disposable income stood at 10,870 yuan ($1,579.6) in the first quarter of 2023, up 5.1 percent year-on-year in nominal terms, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Tuesday.

After deducting price factors, per capita disposable income rose 3.8 percent from the previous year.

Separately, urban per capita disposable income came in at 14,388 yuan, up 4 percent in nominal terms and 2.7 percent in real terms, while income in rural areas stood at 6,131 yuan, up 6.1 percent in nominal terms and 4.8 percent in real terms.

China's per capita consumer spending increased by 5.4 percent year-on-year in nominal terms to reach 6,738 yuan in the first quarter of 2023, while that in real terms rose 4 percent.

Noting that consumption has shown a trend of recovery this year, Fu Linghui, spokesperson of the NBS, said that the willingness of residents to consume needs to be further elevated.

Multiple measures should be taken to improve people's income in the future, as part of efforts to unleash consumption potential, Fu said.

Tuesday's data also showed that China's gross domestic product expanded 4.5 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2023.