In the first four months of this year, tourist arrivals slumped 85.3 per cent, to 3.49 million, from the same period last year.

Meanwhile, gross domestic product (GDP) shrank 8.9 per cent in the first quarter, unchanged from the government’s preliminary estimate, the Census and Statistics Department said.

Government economist Andrew Au Sik-hung warned of worsening unemployment in the second quarter and said he did not expect any improvement in the recession in the first half.

“If the global lockdown eases soon, there is a chance we will see an initial improvement in our economy in the second half of this year,” he said.

“It is unlikely we will see a V-shaped rebound. If there is any improvement, it will be progressive.”

Coronavirus latest: deaths hit 300,000, China records none in a month

Hong Kong spent the whole of April at a standstill, with all but three border checkpoints closed and social-distancing rules in full force. Schools were shut, many white-collar staff worked from home and there was a temporary ban on 11 types of businesses opening.

More than 65 airlines worldwide cut at least 95 per cent of flights in April and May, and the global lockdown prompted travellers to cancel their plans.

In April, the number of mainland Chinese tourists, who accounted for about 80 per cent of the city’s total arrivals before the Covid-19 outbreak, went into free fall, dropping 99.9 per cent year on year to 2,945.

In the first four months of this year, 2.66 million mainland tourists arrived in the city, 85.8 per cent fewer than in the same period in 2019.

“There have been signs that the epidemic is getting contained in Hong Kong. However, local economic activities indicate that business sentiment has remained subdued,” Au said.

“As inbound tourism is likely to remain at a standstill until the pandemic is well contained and travel restrictions are gradually eased, the business environment facing the consumption- and tourism-related sectors will remain challenging in the near term.”

He said the city’s unemployment rate would continue to climb in the second quarter under the repercussions of the pandemic. In the first quarter, the jobless rate jumped to 4.2 per cent, a 10-year high.

The contraction in GDP in the first three months, which marked the third quarter in a row of declines on an annual basis, was worse than the previous record of an 8.3 per cent fall in the third quarter of 1998 during the Asian financial crisis.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, GDP shrank 5.3 per cent in the January-to-March period, the fourth consecutive quarter of declines, the worst run since the onset of the 1997 Asian financial crisis when it slipped for five in a row.

In an attempt to bail out the economy, the government launched a HK$290 billion (US$37.2 billion) relief package that accounted for 9.5 per cent of GDP.