Decline in Hong Kong exports to major markets paints grim economic picture; government warns pressure will continue ‘near term’
- Exports in June slump by 11.4 per cent year on year, marking decline for 14th month in a row, driven by weak demand in mainland China, US and European Union
- Trade deficit for June alone stood at HK$56.6 million, as exports and imports both registered declines
Hong Kong exports slumped by 11.4 per cent year on year in June, down for the 14th month in a row, driven by weak demand in mainland China, the United States and EU.
Goods sold abroad dropped to HK$337.4 billion in June and imports were down 12.3 per cent to HK$393.9 billion, a trade deficit of HK$56.6 billion for the month.
Those to the US went down by 22.1 per cent and exports to Germany fell by 29 per cent.
A government spokesman said the city’s exports were lower compared with a year earlier because of the weak external environment.
“Exports to the mainland, the US and the European Union all shrank. Exports to most other major Asian markets continued to fall by varying degrees,” he said.
“Looking ahead, with slower global economic growth, Hong Kong’s export performance will continue to face intense pressure in the near term.
“The government will monitor the situation closely.”
The figures for June showed a continued downward trend in the performance of the city’s exports amid the global economic crisis.
Exports contracted by 15.6 per cent year on year in May and 13 per cent in April.
Office and automatic data processing machines, major export products, recorded the largest fall – 23.5 per cent in June compared with the same month last year.
Gary Ng Cheuk-yan, a senior economist at Natixis Corporate and Investment Bank, said Hong Kong exports would continue to face challenges amid weak demand on the mainland and an uncertain outlook on global fiscal policies.
“Interest rates have remained high which will continue to impact the exports of electronic goods. We’ll have to wait until the fourth quarter before there is any rebound in exports as global demand may slowly improve,” he said.
Ng estimated the city’s exports this year would contract by 6 per cent.
Economist Simon Lee Siu-po, an honorary fellow at the Asia-Pacific Institute of Business at Chinese University, said the city’s external trade could not register a rebound unless the mainland rolled out stimulus measures.
“A weakened mainland economy has led to a weak performance in foreign markets and Asian markets such as Singapore. One of the factors is that factories are moving out of the mainland,” he said.
“A rebound in exports will only happen if the mainland has strong measures to boost the economy. If not, imports and exports will remain weak with the downward trend.”
