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

Due to the influence of travel restrictions, the number of foreign tourists is decreasing. Local residents are worried about infection and avoid consumption in shops and restaurants. The retail sales in Hongkong, China, decreased by 42% in March compared with the same period last year.

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."

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.

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.

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

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.

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%.

The retail sales of other commodity categories are as follows:

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%