Hong Kong Exports Plunge by Most in 70 Years as Demand Plummets
- Shipments to markets across Asia dropped 40% or more
- Imports fall 30.2% from a year ago, worse than expectations
The Kwai Tsing Container Terminal in Hong Kong, China, on Jan. 24.
Photographer: Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images
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Hong Kong’s exports plunged in January by the most in 70 years as waning global demand and the Lunar New Year break weighed on trade and Chinese demand remained weak, even after the mainland emerged from Covid Zero.
Overseas shipments plummeted 36.7% from a year earlier to HK$290.9 billion ($37.1 billion), the Census and Statistics Department said Monday. That was the lowest amount since February 2020 and was far worse than an expectation of a 27.6% fall in a Bloomberg survey of economists. The drop was the largest since September 1953.