Figures released by the Lebanese Franchise Association (LFA) show that the LFA's Retail Sales Indicator of consumer goods & services in Lebanon declined by 9.5% in the first half of 2018 from the second half of 2017, and increased by 0.9% from the first half of 2017. Also, the indicator regressed by 13.1% from 2012, which is the base year that the LFA uses to calculate its indicator.

The consumer goods covered by the indicator are fashion & clothing, cosmetics, household goods, sports & hobbies, luxury items, and food & beverages. The indicator for the food & beverages category grew by 27.8% in the first half of 2018 from the same period last year, and increased by 2.7% for household goods in the covered period. In contrast, the sales indicator for the sports & hobbies goods regressed by 11.7% year-on-year, followed by fashion & clothing (-10.7%), luxury items (-9.85%), and cosmetics (-4.6%). Further, the retail sales indicators for four out of six categories of consumer goods were lower than their base year level by margins from 35.7% to 57%.

In parallel, the consumer services segment consists of hospitality, tourism, and medical services. The retail sales indicator for medical services increased by 6.1% in the first half of 2018 from the same period last year, while it regressed by 5.2% for hospitality services and by 0.8% for tourism services during the covered period. Also, the retail sales indicator for hospitality services decreased by 12% from its 2012 base year level, while the indicator for tourism services regressed by 0.8%.