July Hong Kong Retail sales show solid growth

July Hong Kong retail sales leapt 4 per cent, marking the strongest monthly improvement since February 2015 and pulling the year-to-date figure to almost even against last year.

The Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) provisionally estimated sales at HK$36 billion, which, after netting out the effect of price changes, was 4.6 per cent higher than last year.

Even the traditionally pessimistic HKRMA greeted the news positively adding that most of its member companies are looking forward to “steady growth” during the coming months.

For the first seven months of 2017 taken together, the provisional estimate of the total retail sales edged down by 0.1 per cent year-on-year.

A government spokesman said retail sales “accelerated visibly” in July, marking the fastest year-on-year growth since February 2015.

“The pick-up was underpinned by robust local consumption demand and further improvement in inbound tourism. Looking ahead, local consumer sentiment should remain sanguine under favourable job and income conditions. Nonetheless, the near-term performance of retail sales would also hinge on the recovery pace of inbound tourism amid various uncertainties in the external environment,” the spokesman said.

Analysed by broad type of retail outlet in descending order of influence on the overall figures, the jewellery and watch sector led the charge with a 12.9 per cent improvement. This was followed by apparel (up 1.6 per cent), medicines and cosmetics (up 3 per cent), department store sales up 5.5 per cent), food, alcoholic drinks and tobacco (up 4.9 per cent), books, newspapers, stationery and gifts (up 1.5 per cent), furniture and homewares (up 4.6 per cent) and Chinese drugs and herbs (up 9.3 per cent).

Sectors showing a decline were electrical goods and gadgets down 6 per cent; footwear and accessories (down 4.7 per cent) and optical shops (down 3.6 per cent).

Supermarket sales were unchanged.

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