The value of total retail sales in July, provisionally estimated at $34.6 billion, was down 7.7% on the same month last year, the Census & Statistics Department reported today.
After netting out the effect of price changes over the same period, the volume of total retail sales decreased 8.5% year-on-year.
The sales value of jewellery, watches and clocks, and valuable gifts fell 26.2%. This was followed by commodities in department stores (-6.9% in value); electrical goods and photographic equipment (-21.8%); motor vehicles and parts (-8.5%); miscellaneous consumer durable goods (-34.4%); fuels (-2%); footwear, allied products and other clothing accessories (-1.1%); Chinese drugs and herbs (-1.5%); and, optical shops (-0.4%).
The sales value of commodities in supermarkets increased 1.9%, followed by sales of apparel (+1.8%); medicines and cosmetics (+9%); food, alcohol and tobacco (+1.3%); other consumer goods, not elsewhere classified (+1.1%); books, newspapers, stationery and gifts (+2.8%); and, furniture and fixtures (+6%).
The department said the decline on a year-on-year basis was slightly narrower than in the preceding two months, reflecting the fall in visitor spending on big-ticket items and the more cautious local consumer sentiment amid an uncertain economic outlook.
The performance of inbound tourism and external uncertainties will continue to affect the near-term outlook for retail sales, it added.
