Hong Kong retail sales continue to decline, falling 1.2 per cent in June

Sales for June totalled HK$27.7 billion, provisional figures released by Census and Statistics Department show

Government attributes decline to souring desire to spend following resurgence of local coronavirus cases and interest rate rises by central banks

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Retail shops offer discounts to attract customers in Mong Kok. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 4:49pm, 2 Aug 2022Updated: 7:37pm, 4 Aug 2022

Corrected [7:36pm, 4 Aug, 2022]

[7:36pm, 4 Aug, 2022]
This article has been updated to correct two figures. Online retail growth in the first half of 2022 was 24 per cent, while June retail sales were down 26.5 per cent compared with the same month in 2018.

Hong Kong’s June retail sales declined 1.2 per cent from a year earlier, the second monthly drop in a row, as consumers shied away from spending during a resurgence of Covid-19 cases and the economy slipped into a recession.

Provisional figures released by the Census and Statistics Department on Tuesday showed June sales totalled HK$27.7 billion (US$3.53 billion), down slightly from the HK$29.1 billion recorded in May.

Online retail sales for June increased 0.5 per cent year on year, reaching HK$2.3 billion to account for 8.2 per cent of the total value. Online retail growth in the first half of 2022 was 24 per cent.

But the 1.2 per cent drop in June sales was milder than May’s year-on-year decline of 1.6 per cent.

The second round of consumption vouchers will be distributed from August 7. Photo: Jonathan Wong

A government spokesman attributed the latest decrease to a souring desire to spend following a resurgence of local coronavirus cases and interest rate rises by central banks, but was optimistic that an impending round of HK$5,000 (US$637) in handouts would help increase consumer demand.

“The upcoming disbursement of phase two of the consumption vouchers will help support consumption demand, but retail sales performance down the road will also be dependent on how the local epidemic evolves and how the tighter financial conditions affect consumer’s spending power and sentiment,” he said.