Hong Kong’s coronavirus-ravaged economy shrinks 9 per cent in second quarter
- Another major slump in gross domestic product recorded in city stricken by Covid-19 crisis
- Highest ever year-on-year decline of 9.1 per cent posted earlier this year
Hong Kong’s economy contracted 9 per cent in the second quarter, a worse-than-expected slump during the coronavirus crisis which falls just short of the record year-on-year decline set earlier in 2020.
In the government’s advance estimates revealed on Wednesday, gross domestic product (GDP) shrank over the year for the fourth straight quarter, in another sharp drop that has prompted economists to drastically downgrade their forecasts for the coming months.
“Covid is a monster that eats economic growth,” said ING Greater China economist Iris Pang, who predicts an even more severe reduction in output in the next quarter.
The fall announced on Wednesday is similar to the revised 9.1 per cent drop recorded for the first three months of this year compared with the same period in 2019.
That was Hong Kong’s steepest decline in a single quarter since records began in 1974, eclipsing the previous 8.3 per cent low posted in the third quarter of 1998 during the Asian financial crisis.