The Increased Importance of Malay and High Income Consumers
New demographics are driving festive increment
The surprising fact is that across both festive periods, the key demographics were Malay and high income consumers. FMCG spending among Malays grew faster during CNY at 7%, and continued to rise through Raya at 2%. High income households’ spend grew consistently across both periods, up 12% during CNY and 7% during Raya. Alongside the affluent shoppers, mid income shoppers also increased their spend during CNY by 4%, while remaining flat in Raya. Meanwhile, Chinese consumers maintained their CNY spending at the same level year-on-year, but spent 3% less during Raya.
The likely reason for the boost provided by Malays during CNY is the earlier shopping period for Raya, which had previously fallen between March and May. In 2025 Raya shopping coincided with the post-CNY period, resulting in February representing the highest spend for Malays in the past four years.
As Raya gets earlier, combined with a late CNY next year, we can expect February 2026 to be an important month for growth. This will be due to Malays continuing to spend more, while Chinese consumers should recover as well owing to the late CNY celebration.
