People wearing protective face masks line up and wait outside a Guccio Gucci SpA store at Harbour City in Hong Kong, China, on Friday, Sept 11, 2020. (PHOTO / BLOOMBERG)
With epidemic easing, Hong Kong’s monthly retail sales performance continued to improve, as the latest September figure corrected the decline in August by 0.2 percent, down 12.9 percent in value compared to the same month last year, according to government figures released on Monday.
The city’s total retail sales value has dropped for 20 consecutive months. However, the latest contraction is the smallest since August last year, when Hong Kong’s retails sales began to see declines of over 20 percent.
The city’s total retail sales value has dropped for 20 consecutive months. However, the contraction is the smallest since August last year, when Hong Kong’s retails sales began to see declines of over 20 percent
Though showing signs of improvement, the September figure was worse than a 12.3 percent decline that the market had expected.
A government spokesman said that the September retail performance had shown some improvement over August as the third wave of the local epidemic abated, having considered that the base of comparison in the month was not as low as in August. However, the year-on-year decline remained notable, the spokesman said.
ALSO READ: HK retail sales down for 19th consecutive month
Hong Kong’s economy showed the first signs of emerging from a crippling recession toward the end of the third quarter as virus infections subsided in September and exports rebounded. The government has been gradually easing social distancing measures that have devastated the city’s tourism and services industries. The city is also working on a travel bubble with Singapore.
With the stabilization of the local epidemic and relaxed social distancing measures, the spokesman said the local consumption sentiment is likely to revive further.
However, the business environment of retail trade will remain challenging in the near term, as inbound tourism is unlikely to see a swift rebound, and the labor market is still under pressure, the spokesman said.
The total value in September was provisionally estimated at HK$26.1 billion. The correction was made in sales of commodities in supermarkets, department stores, furniture and fixtures, and books, newspapers, stationery and gifts, which increased by 3.8 to 8.4 percent. Sales in motor vehicles and parts also saw a notable increase of 17.1 percent.
READ MORE: HK retail sales could fall by 17% in 2020
Most declines were seen in the medicines and cosmetics sales sector, which was down 45.5 percent compared to the same month last year. Sales of electrical goods and other consumer durable goods, as well as jewelry, watches and clocks, valuable gifts, and optical shops were also among worst performers, dropping 25.7 to 38.7 percent.
For the first nine months of 2020, retail sales decreased by 28.7 percent in value compared with the same period last year, while the total volume was down 30 percent.
With inputs from Bloomberg
