H. Kong retail sales rose 7.8% in Dec. ’23

Hong Kong’s retail sales surged by 7.8 per cent to record HK$36.3 billion ($4.64 billion) in December 2023 year-on-year, a statement by Census and Statistics Department showed on Thursday.

The online sales achieved HK$2.8 billion of the total retail sales value in December 2023, recording a decline of 29.7 per cent compared with the same month in 2022, the statement added.

A government spokesman said that the value of total retail sales increased further by 7.8 per cent over a year earlier in December. For 2023 as a whole, the value of total retail sales grew notably by 16.2 per cent, according to the statement.

Hong Kong’s economy expanded 4.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2023, more than the previous three quarters but missing economists’ median forecast of 4.7 per cent. The gross domestic product (GDP) grew 3.2 per cent in 2023.

($1 = HK$7.82)