November retail sales drop 4%

2021-01-10 14:55:22

The value of total retail sales in November, provisionally estimated at $28.7 billion, fell 4% compared with the same month in 2019, the Census & Statistics Department announced today.

After netting out the effect of price changes over the same period, the volume of total retail sales dropped 4.7% year-on-year.

The value of sales of commodities in department stores decreased 12.4%.

This was followed by sales of food, alcoholic drinks and tobacco (-8.8% in value), jewellery, watches and clocks, and valuable gifts (-16.1%), wearing apparel (-13.3%), medicines and cosmetics (-34.8%), fuels (-5.5%), footwear, allied products and other clothing accessories (-18.3%), books, newspapers, stationery and gifts (-17.7%), Chinese drugs and herbs (-15.2%), and optical shops (-16.5%).

On the other hand, the value of sales of electrical goods and other consumer durable goods, not elsewhere classified rose 22%. This was followed by sales of commodities in supermarkets (+1.6% in value), other consumer goods, not elsewhere classified (+15.3%), motor vehicles and parts (+22.2%), and furniture and fixtures (+15.1%).

The Government said the year-on-year decline in retail sales further narrowed in November, primarily due to the notable increase in sales at retail outlets of consumer durable goods.

Looking ahead, as inbound tourism remains at a standstill and the fourth wave of the local epidemic has weighed on local consumption sentiment since the latter part of November, the business environment of the retail trade will remain challenging in the near term.

The Government will monitor the developments closely.

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