Hong Kong Retail Sales Up 10.4% In August

According to the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department, the total retail sales in Hong Kong increased by 10.4% to HKD22.8 billion in August and the total retail sales value and the total retail sales volume in the first eight months of 2008 increased by 15% and 8.3% respectively.

A spokesperson from the Hong Kong government said that the recent global financial turmoil will affect the local Hong Kong asset market and this will lead to effects on consumer sentiment and the local economy. The government will monitor the situation closely.

Statistics released by the Census and Statistics Department showed that electrical goods and photographic equipment had the greatest growth in sales volume in August, increasing 21.6 percentage points compared with the same period last year, followed by furniture and fixtures with increase rate of 14.7%, fuels with 7.8%, apparel with 5.2%, food, alcohol and tobacco with 3.5%, and commodities in department stores with 3.3%.

At the same time, the sales volume of motor vehicles and parts decreased by 14.8% and that of footwear, allied products and other clothing accessories decreased by 4.1% while that of miscellaneous consumer durable goods decreased by 0.9%.