Retail sales crashed 42% to $23b in March

Jewellry, watches and clocks and valuable gifts saw the sharpest decline.

Hong Kong’s retail sales plunged 42% YoY to $23b in March, data from Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) revealed. After netting out the effect of price changes over the same period, sales volume crashed 43.8%.

In Q1, retail sales value declined 19.6% MoM and 35% YoY. Likewise, sales volume dropped 20.4% MoM and 36.9% YoY, which is the largest decline for a single quarter on record.

According to a government spokesperson, this is attributed to the pandemic and resulting measures bringing inbound tourism to a standstill and disrupting consumption-related activities.

Sales of food, alcoholic drinks and tobacco fell 21.2%, although it still dominated retail sales by value. This was followed by sales of commodities in department stores and other consumer goods, which slipped 42.7% and 29.1%, respectively.

Recording the sharpest decline amongst commodities were jewellry, watches and clocks and valuable gifts, at 75.2%. This is followed by wearing apparel (67.2%) and medicines and cosmetics (63.8%).

In contrast, the value of sales of commodities in supermarkets rose 16.1% YoY.

Also recording fall in sales were electrical goods and other durable goods (39.6%); motor vehicles and parts (19.8%); fuels (8%); furniture and fixtures (14.4%); books, newspapers, stationery and gifts (48.4%); Chinese drugs and herbs (51.7%); footwear, allied products and other clothing accessories (60.6%); and optical shops (46.6%).