The total value of Hong Kong’s retail sales in May – provisionally estimated at HK$33.8 billion – was up 7.9 percent compared with the same month a year earlier, with sales of most broad types of retail outlets registering growth.

The provisional estimate of the volume of total retail sales represents a 4.8 percent year-on-year increase after netting out the effect of price changes over the same period, data released by the Census and Statistics Department shows.

For the first five months of the year taken together, it was provisionally estimated that the value of total retail sales increased by 10.6 percent compared with the same period in the previous year.

Online sales accounted for 10.1 percent of the total retail sales value in May. Provisionally estimated at HK$3.4 billion, the value of the segment increased 33.1 percent from the same month a year earlier.

Analyzed by broad type of retail outlet, the value of sales of consumer goods “not elsewhere classified” increased 14.8 percent in May 2026 compared with the same period a year earlier, according to the data.

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This was followed by jewelry, watches and clocks, and valuable gifts (up 25.8 percent); commodities in supermarkets (up 0.9 percent); clothing (up 3 percent); commodities in department stores (up 9.2 percent); medicines and cosmetics (up 3.5 percent); electrical goods and other consumer durable goods not elsewhere classified (up 13 percent); motor vehicles and parts (up 1.7 percent); footwear, allied products and other clothing accessories (up 4.7 percent); books, newspapers, stationery and gifts (up 4.5 percent); furniture and fixtures (up 4.6 percent); and optical items (up 10.3 percent).

Meanwhile, the value of sales of food, alcoholic drinks and tobacco dropped 0.3 percent in May year-on-year, followed by sales of fuels (down 12.2 percent) and Chinese drugs and herbs (down 9.5 percent).

Looking ahead, a spokesperson for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government said the ongoing economic expansion and sustained growth in local labor earnings – together with a continued increase in inbound visitors – should benefit retail businesses.