Hong Kong: Decline in retail sales softens in October
Retail sales decreased 9.3% year-on-year in October, moderating from September’s 13.3% decline. The result marked the smallest drop since June 2019.
Looking at the details of the release, October’s improvement was broad-based, with fuel, supermarkets and food and non-alcoholic beverages sub-sectors all improving. Moreover, clothing and footwear sales contracted at a softer rate than in September, although jewelry, watches and valuables sales fell at a sharper pace.
Meanwhile, the trend improved, with the annual average variation of retail sales coming in at minus 26.4%, up from September’s minus 27.8%.