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Hong Kong Retail Sales Down 21.4% Due to Coronavirus

The health scare worsened an already weak environment for retail after months of often violent anti-government protests.

Central Hong Kong | Source: Shutterstock

Reuters

02 March 2020

HONG KONG, China — Hong Kong's retail sales fell 21.4 percent in January from a year earlier, as the coronavirus outbreak discouraged tourists from visiting the Chinese-ruled city and kept citizens away from shopping centres.

The health scare worsened an already weak environment for retail after months of often violent anti-government protests.

For the month of January, sales dropped to HK$37.8 billion ($4.86 billion), government data showed on Monday, the 12th consecutive month of decline. December’s fall was a revised 19.4 percent.

In volume terms, retail sales in January fell 23.0 percent, compared with a revised 21.1 percent drop in December.

By Donny Kwok and Twinnie Siu; Editors: Marius Zaharia and Toby Chopra

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