Coronavirus: Hong Kong retail sales in record 44 per cent decline as health crisis batters struggling sector

Official year-on-year figures for February reflect Covid-19 toll on retailers after city marked its first coronavirus cases in late January

HK$25 billion wiped off monthly consumer spending in Hong Kong in about a year amid warning economy could shrink 10 per cent in second quarter

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Shops in Hong Kong, already weakened from the impact of the anti-government protests, are struggling to survive the coronavirus pandemic. Photo: Nora Tam

Published: 4:36pm, 31 Mar 2020Updated: 11:43pm, 31 Mar 2020

Sales in Hong Kong plummeted a record 44 per cent in February, official year-on-year figures revealed on Tuesday, as coronavirus-stricken retailers warned even the strongest faced collapse without more government support.

Consumer spending has now more than halved from the start of 2019, free-falling from HK$48.1 billion (US$6 billion) last January to HK$22.7 billion in the latest figures through 13 consecutive months of decline, highlighting the worsening outlook for a sector already suffering from the impact of the anti-government protests that broke out last summer.

Industry experts predicted the sharp decline could continue for months – with businesses now “burning money” through the pandemic – adding further relief measures would be crucial to tide the sector over during the crisis.

A Hong Kong government spokesman said February’s figures marked the steepest single-month fall on record, mainly due to Covid-19’s impact on tourism and spending.

“The business environment of retail trade will remain extremely austere in the near term, as the Covid-19 pandemic has brought inbound tourism to a standstill and severely dented local consumption demand,” he said.