The value of Hong Kong’s total retail sales in December 2021, provisionally estimated at HK$33.3 billion (US$4.2 billion), rose 6.2 percent compared with the same month in 2020, according to the Census & Statistics Department.
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Of the total retail sales value in December, online sales accounted for 10.8 percent. Provisionally estimated at HK$3.6 billion (US$ 461 million), the value of online retail sales increased 31.5 percent year-on-year.
After netting out the effect of price changes over the same period, the provisional estimate of the volume of total retail sales for the month increased 3.4 percent compared with a year earlier.
The value of sales of electrical goods and other consumer durable goods increased 5.5 percent.
This was followed by sales of jewellery, watches and clocks, and valuable gifts (up 24 percent in value); other consumer goods, not elsewhere classified (up 10.8 percent); commodities in department stores (up 2.5 percent); wearing apparel (up 12 percent); medicines and cosmetics (up 9.7 percent); motor vehicles and parts (up 8.7 percent); fuels (up 18.4 percent); footwear, allied products and other clothing accessories (up 15.5 percent); Chinese drugs and herbs (up 4.7 percent); books, newspapers, stationery and gifts (up 7.8 percent); and optical shops (up 25.1 percent).
The value of sales of commodities in supermarkets decreased 6.8 percent for the period, followed by sales of food, alcoholic drinks and tobacco ( down 3 percent in value); and furniture and fixtures (down 4.1 percent).
Hong Kong’s government said that the value of total retail sales increased further by 6.2 percent year-on-year in December 2021 along with the continued economic recovery, though the growth pace moderated somewhat from the preceding month. For 2021 as a whole, total retail sales value rose 8.1percent but was still 27.2 percent below the level in 2018 before the recession as tourism stayed at a standstill.
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Looking ahead, the government noted that the latest wave of the local epidemic and tightened anti-epidemic measures have weighed on consumption sentiment and posed renewed pressures on the retail sector.