Hong Kong: Retail sales speed up in August
Latest reading: Retail sales rose 3.2% in annual terms in August, following a 0.9% increase in the previous month. August’s reading was the second straight month of growth—the first time this has happened since 2023. However, retail sales are still well below their 2023 levels following 14 straight months of contractions up to April 2025.
Relative to the previous month’s data, readings in August improved for clothing and footwear (+4.9% on a year-on-year basis vs +2.3% in July) and jewelry, watches and valuables (+14.1% vs +7.0% in July). In contrast, readings softened for fuel (-11.6% vs -9.0% in July), supermarkets (-2.7% vs -2.2% in July) and food and alcoholic beverages (-5.1% vs -4.3% in July).