Hong Kong retail sales in June slip

Hong Kong retail sales in June slumped by 24.8 percent to US$3.42 billion as the territory’s borders remained all but closed to tourists due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The decline was lower than in May when sales were down 32.9 percent year on year and the 33.3-per-cent rate for the six months to June.

A Hong Kong government spokesman said the slowing rate of the decline reflected the pandemic’s abatement during the month, resulting in more locals returning to the shop.

However, with inbound tourism remaining at a standstill in July and local consumption hit by the surge in local Covid-19 cases resulting in a tightening of social-distancing measures, the retail trading environment “has turned more austere again” since June, they said.

June last year was when the social unrest began to impact Hong Kong retail, so the year-on-year declines each month for the rest of this year will likely be less dramatic than in recent months, due to the lower base.

In order of the category’s impact on the overall figures, the biggest declines were in department-store sales down 7 percent; miscellaneous consumer goods by 10 percent, food, alcohol and tobacco down 13.2 percent; jewelry and watches by 56.5 percent; electrical goods by 8.8 percent; and apparel by 38.8 percent.

The medicines and cosmetics category was down by 57.4 percent; motor vehicles and parts by 17.9 percent; footwear and accessories by 39.7 percent; Chinese drugs and herbs by 29 percent; books, newspapers, stationery, and gifts by 41.3 percent; and sales at optical shops fell by 32.5 percent.

The only categories showing growth in Hong Kong retail sales in June were supermarkets up by 4.5 percent, fuels by 8.4 percent, and furniture and fixtures by 0.3 percent.