Hong Kong: Retail sales contract again in September
Retail sales fell 13.4% compared to the same month a year earlier in September, matching August’s revised result (previously reported: -13.3% year-on-year), which had marked the softest decline since July 2019.
Looking at the details of the release, supermarkets sales fell for the first time since December 2019 at the end of Q3, dragging on the overall result. That said, the sales of food and non-alcoholic beverages; clothing and footwear; fuel; and jeweler, watches and valuables contracted at a softer pace than in the previous month in September.
Meanwhile, the annual average variation in retail sales improved slightly to minus 27.8% in September, from August’s minus 28.4%.