Hong Kong's retail sales fall 12.9 pct in September

HONG KONG - The value of total retail sales in September, provisionally estimated at HK$26.1 billion (about $3.36 billion), fell 12.9 percent compared with the same month in 2019, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government announced on Monday.

After netting out the effect of price changes over the same period, the volume of total retail sales dropped 13.4 percent year-on-year, according to the Census & Statistics Department of the HKSAR government.

The value of sales of food, alcoholic drinks and tobacco decreased 11.1 percent. Sales of jewellery, watches and clocks, and valuable gifts fell 25.7 percent in value, electrical goods and other consumer durable goods, not elsewhere classified fell 38.7 percent.

On the other hand, the value of sales of commodities in supermarkets rose 3.8 percent. Sales of commodities in department stores rose 5.5 percent in value, other consumer goods, not elsewhere classified rose 16.7 percent.

A spokesman for the HKSAR government said the performance of the retail sector had shown some improvement over August as the third wave of the local epidemic abated.

Looking ahead, as inbound tourism is unlikely to see a swift rebound and the labor market is still under pressure, the business environment of the retail trade will remain challenging in the near term, the spokesman said.

However, with the stabilization of the local epidemic situation and the recent relaxation of social distancing measures, local consumption sentiment is likely to revive further, he added.