Skip to content

Subscriber Only

Economics

Hong Kong Retail Slide Continued in August Amid Restrictions

Decline in retail sales by value narrowed to 13.1% in August
Improvement largely from low base of comparison, report says

Pedestrians walk along Russell Street in the Causeway Bay district of Hong Kong, on Aug. 29. — Pedestrians walk along Russell Street in the Causeway Bay district of Hong Kong, on Aug. 29.
Photographer: Chan Long Hei/Bloomberg

By

September 30, 2020, 8:45 AM UTCUpdated onSeptember 30, 2020, 9:12 AM UTC

Hong Kong retailers’ struggles eased slightly in August even as social-distancing measures were extended to combat the latest wave of coronavirus infections in the city.

Retail sales by value fell 13.1% from a year earlier to HK$25.6 billion ($3.3 billion), according to a government statement. That’s better than the median forecast for a 17.5% decline in the period, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Retail sales by volume also dropped 13.4% from year-ago levels, an improvement on the 23.8% decline in July, the report said.