HK retail sales plunge

HONG KONG: Hong Kong’s retail sales fell 21.4% 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$37.8bil (US$4.86bil), government data showed yesterday, the 12th consecutive month of decline. December’s fall was a revised 19.4%

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