Hong Kong's retail sales value up 0.1% to $33.7b

Sales of jewellery and valuable gifts inched up 0.8%.

The value of total retail sales in June, provisionally estimated at $33.7 billion, was up 0.1% on the same month last year, the Census & Statistics Department announced. After netting out the effect of price changes over the same period, the volume of total retail sales increased 0.4% year-on-year.

The sales value of commodities in supermarkets increased 0.4%. This was followed by commodities in department stores (+0.8%); food, alcohol and tobacco (+2.6%); other consumer goods (+3.8%); motor vehicles and parts (+7.3%); miscellaneous consumer durable goods (+3.7%); furniture and fixtures (+4.7%); and, Chinese drugs and herbs (+1.7%).

The sales value of jewellery, watches and clocks, and valuable gifts decreased 0.8%, followed by sales of apparel (-1.4%); medicines and cosmetics (-0.5%); electrical goods and photographic equipment (-8.1%); fuels (-0.8%); footwear, allied products and other clothing accessories (-4.5%); books, newspapers, stationery and gifts (-6.3%); and, optical shops (-3.8%).

The department said the slight increase in retail sales in June shows the improvement in inbound tourism and the resilience of local consumption demand.