Hong Kong's retail sales down 2.8% in July

The value of total retail sales in Hong Kong fell 2.8 percent year-on-year in July to 37.6 billion HK dollars (about 4.8 billion U.S. dollars), the Census and Statistics Department said here on Monday.

After netting out the effect of price changes over the same period, the volume of total retail sales in July increased 1.9 percent from a year ago.

Analyzed by broad type of retail outlet in descending order of value of sales, the value of sales of jewelry, watches and clocks, and valuable gifts fell 5.0 percent, followed by sales of wearing apparel 13.0 percent, medicines and cosmetics 5.4 percent, fuels 9. 6 percent and optical shops 5.9 percent.

On the other hand, the value of sales of commodities in supermarkets increased 0.4 percent, followed by sales of food, alcoholic drinks and tobacco 7.0 percent and electrical goods and photographic equipment 4.9 percent.

A government spokesman said retail sales growth in volume terms moderated in July, partly dragged by the further slowdown in inbound tourism and partly due to the impact of stock market correction on consumer sentiment.

The near-term performance of retail sales will continue to hinge on inbound tourism growth and on whether there would be any negative spillover from the increased stock market volatility of late, the spokesman said.