Hong Kong has seen retail sales plunge more than one-third over the first four months of this year. Census & Statistics Department figures have recored a nearly forty percent decline.
Retailers received little relief in May as when local social-distancing measures were relaxed and then social unrest recommenced, leading to stores being shut and some store were even vandalised. Currently retail sales in Hong Kong are unliklely to show any promising signs until much later this year when the border reopens and international travel resumes.
“While the epidemic has abated in Hong Kong, the business environment for retail trade remains challenging, as Covid-19 has brought inbound tourism to a standstill, and as austere labour market conditions and various uncertainties continue to weigh on consumption sentiment.” – A government spokesman.
