Retail sales value up 0.1% to $35.2b in April

Retail sales held stable amidst the sustained recovery in visitor arrivals.

The value of total retail sales in April, provisionally estimated at $35.2 billion, was up 0.1% on the same month last year, said the Census & Statistics Department.

After netting out the effect of price changes over the same period, the volume of total retail sales dropped 0.1% year-on-year.

The sales value of jewellery, watches and clocks, and valuable gifts increased 0.5%.

This was followed by apparel (+2.1%); medicines and cosmetics (+4.8%); commodities in department stores (+3.4%); food, alcohol and tobacco (+3.0%); other consumer goods (+7.4%); fuels (+2.9%); footwear, allied products and other clothing accessories (+0.8%); furniture and fixtures (+9.0%); books, newspapers, stationery and gifts (+5.0%); Chinese drugs and herbs (+4.9%); and, optical shops (+3.3%).

The sales value of commodities in supermarkets decreased 0.6%, followed by sales of electrical goods and photographic equipment (-18%), miscellaneous consumer durable goods (-12.4%), and motor vehicles and parts (-13.9%).