Hong Kong retail sales rise for 8th month

[HONG KONG] Hong Kong's retail sales climbed for the eighth straight month in September, helped by a stabilising Covid-19 situation, an improved labour market and economic recovery and a boost from a consumption voucher scheme (CVS).

Retail sales in September rose 7.3 per cent from a year earlier to HK$28 billion (S$4.85 billion), government data showed on Tuesday. That compares with an 11.9 per cent increase in August.

"The stable local epidemic and improving employment and income conditions, together with the Consumption Voucher Scheme, should remain supportive to the retail sector in the near term,"a government spokesman said.

In volume terms, retail sales in September grew 4.7 per cent from a year earlier, compared with a revised 10 per cent surge the previous month.

For the first nine months of 2021, total retail sales increased 8 per cent in value terms and rose 6.8 per cent in volume.

Online retail sales in September jumped 30.5 per cent in value year-on-year compared with a revised 17.6 per cent growth in August.

Sales of jewellery, watches, clocks and valuable gifts, which before the pandemic relied heavily on tourists from the mainland, climbed 16.2 per cent in September versus a revised 28.1 per cent surge in August, the data showed.

Clothing, footwear and related products rose 6.5 per cent in September against a revised 40.8 per cent jump in August.

Tourist arrivals in September rose 8.2 per cent from a year earlier to 9,879. That compares with a 143 per cent surge in August.

Total visitor arrivals from January to September dropped 98.2 per cent year on year to 63,105.

"The virtually frozen inbound tourism will continue to constrain the extent of revival," the spokesman added.

The city's economy lost momentum in the third quarter as exports slowed, and the bounce from last year's pandemic-induced slump has largely run its course, with longer-term prospects hanging on the impact of the city's zero-Covid policy.

Seasonally adjusted unemployment rate slipped to 4.5 per cent in the July-September quarter as compared to 4.7 per cent in June-August period.

REUTERS