The value of Hong Kong retail sales plunged by a worse-than-expected 7.7 per cent year on year in June, adding to the economic gloom caused by record unemployment and a faltering global recovery.
Analysts and the government blamed the football World Cup for having kept residents and tourists away from Hong Kong's shops. However, they had little hope consumer confidence would return in the near future, especially as a recovery in exports appeared to be under threat from poor second-quarter economic growth in the US.
The value of retail sales amounted to $14.54 billion in June. For the first half of the year, they were down 4.7 per cent in value compared to the first half of last year.
Retail sales volume, which takes price changes into account, was down 6.9 per cent in June and 3.1 per cent for the first half of the year. Most economists had expected an average fall in June of 4.8 per cent by volume, after a five per cent volume contraction in May.
June's declines were the biggest in volume and value for more than two years, excluding January this year - when double-digit falls were a statistical anomaly attributed to the timing of the Lunar New Year.
Retail sales volume last grew in August last year, excluding a 9.3 per cent increase in February as a result of the lunar holiday.
