Hong Kong Retail Sales Plunge 14.6% as Covid Measures Bite
- Value of retail sales contracts by most since July 2020
- Government sees pressure ahead even with consumption vouchers
Closed stores on Hollywood Road in Hong Kong.
Photographer: Paul Yeung/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Hong Kong’s retail sales contracted 14.6% in February from a year ago, the biggest decline since July 2020 as the government imposed tough restrictions to battle the city’s worst-ever Covid outbreak.
The fall in sales value -- the first for the city since January 2021 -- was even worse than the median estimate of a 7.7% decline expected by economists in a Bloomberg survey.