Hong Kong’s retail sales jump by record 40.9 per cent in March, while total of mainland Chinese tourists for ‘golden week’ beats estimates
- Economists say recovery should continue to gain traction in months ahead, given stronger than expected number of mainland Chinese tourists visiting city
- Travel Industry Authority also logs 453 registered inbound tour groups from mainland over holiday period, involving 13,800 visitors
Hong Kong’s retail sales jumped by a record 40.9 per cent in March from a year ago, helping to pull the local economy out of recession, while the number of mainland Chinese tourists arriving over the “golden week” holiday beat estimates.
Provisional figures released by the Census and Statistics Department on Thursday showed retail sales grew to HK$33.6 billion (US$4.28 billion) in March, year on year, slightly more than February’s total of HK$33.1 billion.
While the 40.9 per cent growth was the strongest since record-keeping for retail sales began in 2005, the base of comparison is fairly low. In March last year, sales were anaemic as the city battled the fifth wave of the pandemic with rounds of lockdowns, tough social-distancing rules and travel restrictions, a regime that was only completely abandoned in February.
A government spokesman predicted the recent recovery of inbound tourism and consumption would continue to boost sales.
“The disbursement of the new round of consumption vouchers will render further support,” he said, referring to the first tranche of HK$5,000 in e-vouchers distributed in April.
The strong retail sales helped to boost economic growth to 2.7 per cent in the first three months of the year compared with the same period in 2022, ending four consecutive quarters of contraction.
Economists said the recovery should continue to gain traction in the months ahead, given the stronger than expected number of mainland Chinese tourists visiting the city during the extended holiday.
