Hong Kong: Retail sales dip in May
Retail sales dropped 4.9% year on year in May in volume terms (April: +8.0% yoy). The notable deterioration largely reflected a sharper contraction in food and alcoholic beverages sales, and a sharp drop in supermarket sales following growth in the prior month. While May’s reading was markedly weaker than markets had expected, it could have been partly due to consumers shifting more spending to services as Covid-19 restrictions were eased. May’s reading could also have reflected the easing of pent-up demand for goods following April’s stellar growth figure.
Meanwhile, annual average retail sales growth fell to 0.5% in May (April: +1.7%). This signals a worsening trend in the retail trade sector.