Retail sector woes continue despite New Year festivities

Hong Kong’s retail sector woes continued in the second month of this year when sales tumbled by more than 20 percent during the period when the Lunar New Year is celebrated. The value of total retail sales in February, provisionally estimated at HK$37 billion, was down by 20.6 percent compared with the same month in 2015. The revised estimate of the value of total retail sales in January dropp…

Hong Kong’s retail sector woes continued in the second month of this year when sales tumbled by more than 20 percent during the period when the Lunar New Year is celebrated. The value of total retail sales in February, provisionally estimated at HK$37 billion, was down by 20.6 percent compared with the same month in 2015.

The revised estimate of the value of total retail sales in January dropped by 6.6 percent compared with a year earlier. For the first two months of this year, retail sales fell by 13.6 percent compared with the same period in 2015.

January and February retail sales of jewelry, watches and clocks, and valuable gifts dropped by 24.2 percent, the government said.

Apparel sales fell by 11.4 percent, while commodities in department stores fell by 12.3 percent.
Sales of electrical goods and photographic equipment were down by 26.7 percent and miscellaneous consumer durable goods dropped by 31.9 percent. Motor vehicles and parts sales tumbled by 21.2 percent.