Hongkong'S Retail Sales Decreased By 42% In March Compared With The Same Period Last Year.

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According to the data released by the HKSAR Government on Tuesday, Hongkong's retail sales in March were HK $23 billion, down 42% from a year ago, down fourteenth consecutive months, showing a slight improvement compared with 44% in February. The total retail sales in March dropped by 43.8% compared to the same period last year, while in February it dropped by 46.7%. A spokesman for the SAR government said in a statement: "in the face of severe economic recession and sharp deterioration of the labor market, the business environment of retail trade will remain very difficult in the short term."

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In the first quarter of 2020, retail sales decreased by 35% compared with the same period in 2019, while retail sales fell 36.9% year-on-year, the biggest quarterly decline in history.

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The Hongkong Retail Management Association (HKRMA) said last month that although the government adopted relief measures to ease the impact of the epidemic, it is expected that about 25% of Hongkong's retail outlets will be closed by the end of this year. In mid April, Hongkong announced relief measures worth HK $137 billion 500 million to help businesses and people to make ends meet.

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Data show that although Hongkong people avoided shop consumption, supermarket sales in March increased by 16.1% over the same period last year.

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At the same time, the stagnation of tourism also affected the retail industry. The Hongkong Tourism Board said that the number of tourists in Hongkong dropped by 98.6% to 82285 tourists in March compared with 96.4% in February. In March, the number of passengers in the mainland dropped by 99.3% to 30370 over the same period. Just this month, the government of Hongkong banned all visitors from entering the country in order to control the epidemic.

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Sales of jewellery, watches, clocks and precious gifts heavily relied on mainland tourists decreased by 75.2% in March compared with 78.5% in February. Sales of pharmaceuticals and cosmetics industry decreased by 63.8%, garments decreased by 67.2%, and department store sales dropped by 42.7%.

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The retail sales of other commodity categories are as follows:

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Electrical appliances and other durable goods fell 39.6%

Cars and related accessories fell 19.8%

Furniture and fixtures fell 14.4%

Books, newspapers, stationery and gifts fell 48.4%

Chinese herbal medicine fell 51.7%

Footwear and other clothing accessories fell 60.6%

Glasses dropped 46.6%