Hong Kong retail sales decline lessening

The heavy rate of decline in Hong Kong retail sales may be over, with September figures showing a relatively small contraction.

According to data released by the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD), the value retail sales in September, provisionally estimated at $33.8 billion, decreased by 4.1 per cent with the same month last year.

That compares very favourably with a year-to-date figure of 9.6 per cent and August’s revised figure of 10.5 per cent. However, it should be noted, these declines are measured against a low base as 12 months ago the city’s major retail decline was well underway.

“Retail sales showed a visibly narrower year-on-year decline in September, conceivably due partly to a reduced drag from the smaller decline in visitor arrivals in that month and partly to some improvement in consumer sentiment amid a somewhat more stable external environment,” said a government spokesperson.

“Looking ahead, the near-term outlook for retail sales is still subject to uncertainty, depending on the performance of inbound tourism as well as the extent to which local consumer sentiment will be affected by various external uncertainties.”

After netting out the effect of price changes over the same period, the provisional estimate of the volume of total retail sales in September 2016 decreased by 3.9 per cent compared with a year earlier.

For the first time in more than a year, luxury goods did not show the greatest decline. The worst-performing category in September was electrical goods and photographic equipment down 12.8 per cent, with jewellery, watches and valuable gifts down 12.3 per cent. Department store sales slipped 2.4 per cent.

Apparel sales actually rose by 1.8 per cent, and optical retailers experienced 1.7 per cent growth.

There were negligible changes in any other category.

 

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