Hong Kong retail sales rise 8.4 per cent year on year in first half of 2021

Government spokesman credits stabilisation of coronavirus pandemic with rise in spending, says e-voucher scheme will bring further improvements

Official figures show sales for June totalled HK$28.1 billion, up 5.8 per cent compared to same period last year

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People shop in a store in Mong Kok on Monday, a day after Hongkongers received their first instalment of government e-vouchers. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 4:56pm, 2 Aug 2021Updated: 12:01am, 3 Aug 2021

Corrected [6:10pm, 2 Aug, 2021]

[6:10pm, 2 Aug, 2021]
A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the percentage of retail growth in the first half of 2021 as 54.9 per cent. This is actually the online retail figure.

Hong Kong’s retail sales rose 8.4 per cent year on year in the first half of 2021 as the local Covid-19 situation stabilised, with the government’s consumption voucher scheme expected to boost spending in the coming months.

Provisional figures released by the Census and Statistics Department on Monday showed sales for June totalled HK$28.1 billion (US$3.6 billion), up 5.8 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Online retail sales in June increased 63.8 per cent year on year, reaching HK$2.3 billion to account for 8.1 per cent of the total value. Online retail growth in the first half of 2021 was 54.9 per cent.

A government spokesman said retail sales had risen in June on the back of stronger consumer demand amid improvements in the local coronavirus epidemic and labour market.

For the second quarter as a whole, the volume of retail sales grew by 3.6 per cent from the preceding three-month period.

“Yet with incoming visitors remaining scant, retail sales stayed far below the pre-recession level,” the spokesman said.