Retail sales drop 6.9% y/y in June

Fifth consecutive month of negative y/y growth.

Hong Kong retail sales value fell 6.9% y/y to HK$37.1bn in June 2014.

According to a research note from Barclays, excluding the price effect, the retail sales volume dropped 7.5% y/y.

This is the fifth consecutive month that retail sales recorded negative y/y growth.

Here's more from Barclays:

For the first half of 2014, total retail sales fell 1.3% y/y in value and 1.1% y/y in volume.

By category, jewellery and watches retail sales dropped by 28.2% w/w in value as a result of the high base impact from the “gold rush” last year, followed by consumer durable goods (-7.8% y/y) and department stores (-3.6% y/y).

Looking ahead, the government spokesman commented that the near-term performance of retail sales will remain susceptible to the base effects and the changing visitor spending pattern, although the still favourable labour market conditions should render some support.