Amid signs of worsening economic conditions on the mainland and in the United States and Europe, Hong Kong's trade fell last month.
The value of exports fell 4.8 per cent year on year to HK$278.2 billion, after a 5.2 per cent increase in May, according to the Census and Statistics Department. The city's imports dropped 2.9 per cent year on year to HK$322.9 billion, after growing 4.6 per cent in May.
Correspondingly, the container throughput of Hong Kong, the world's third-busiest port, fell 6.8 per cent year on year, after a 2.7 per cent rise in May, according to the Port Development Council.
Compared with the first quarter, the value of the city's exports and imports slid 3.7 per cent and 1.5 per cent respectively in the second quarter.
'The overall trend since the beginning of this year is the slowing down of our exports, corresponding to the slowdown of China's exports, as well as sluggish overseas markets. I'm not terribly optimistic about the second half,' said Edward Leung, chief economist of the Trade Development Council.
For the whole year, the value of export growth will be 1 per cent in nominal terms, but in real terms, this figure might decline as much as 3 per cent, Leung predicted.
While exports to the European Union remained the weakest spot, widespread weakness was also seen across many major markets, a government spokesman said.