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Published: 20:44, January 31, 2022
Hong Kong's December retail sales up 6.2%
By Wang Zhan
Published:20:44, January 31, 2022 By Wang Zhan

This Dec 10, 2021 photo shows a man riding a bicycle past the BeWater Mart retail store (right) operating next to an empty shoplot in Sheung Shui, a town in northwest Hong Kong near the border with the Chinese mainland. (BERTHA WANG / AFP)

HONG KONG – The value of total retail sales in Hong Kong in December, provisionally estimated at HK$33.3 billion, rose 6.2 percent compared with the same month in 2020, according to the Census and Statistics Department. 

Of the total retail sales value in December, online sales accounted for 10.8 percent, the department announced on Monday. Provisionally estimated at HK$3.6 billion, the value of online retail sales increased 31.5 percent year-on-year. 

READ MORE: HK retail sales rise 7.1% in Nov, marking 10th month of growth 

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. 

For 2021 as a whole, total retail sales value rose 8.1% but was still 27.2% below the level in 2018 before the recession as tourism stayed at a standstill, said the govt

The value of sales of electrical goods and other consumer durable goods not elsewhere classified increased 5.5 percent, the department said in a press release. 

This was followed by sales of jewelry, watches and clocks, and valuable gifts (+24 percent in value); other consumer goods, not elsewhere classified (+10.8 percent); commodities in department stores (+2.5 percent); wearing apparel (+12 percent); medicines and cosmetics (+9.7 percent); motor vehicles and parts (+8.7 percent); fuels (+18.4 percent); footwear, allied products and other clothing accessories (+15.5 percent); Chinese drugs and herbs (+4.7 percent); books, newspapers, stationery and gifts (+7.8 percent); and optical shops (+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 (-3 percent in value); and furniture and fixtures (-4.1 percent), added the release. 

The value of total retail sales increased further by 6.2 percent year-on-year in December along with the continued economic recovery, though the growth pace moderated somewhat from the preceding month, said the government.  

For 2021 as a whole, total retail sales value rose 8.1 percent but was still 27.2 percent below the level in 2018 before the recession as tourism stayed at a standstill, it added. 

ALSO READ: Hong Kong's retail sales rise 12% in October 

Looking ahead, the government said 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. 

It is essential for the community to work together with the government to contain the epidemic as soon as possible to create conditions for the continued revival of retail business and the overall economy, it added. 

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