Hong Kong's retail sales surprisingly rebounded in April, lifting the sector out of contraction after strict Covid curbs hammered consumer spending earlier this year.
Sales value rose 11.7 percent in April from a year earlier on the back of "receding local epidemic and the disbursement of the first batch of consumption vouchers," the Census and Statistics Department said in a statement yesterday.
That was far better than the median estimate of a 7.9 percent decline expected by economists in a Bloomberg survey.
It was also much better than the 13.8 percent plunge in March when Covid cases in the city ballooned and there were tight curbs on activity.
Excluding the effect of price changes over the same period, the provisional estimate of the volume of total retail sales in April increased by 8.1 percent, the government said.
Sales increased 8.1 percent from a year ago, also much higher than the 10.8 percent decline forecast by economists.
The value of sales in supermarkets increased by 5.8 percent and that of electrical goods and other consumer durable products jumped 40.9 percent in April.
Sales of jewelry, watches, clocks and valuable gifts, which before the pandemic relied heavily on tourists from the mainland, rose 13.9 percent in April following a revised 35.9 percent drop in March, the data showed.
Clothing, footwear and related products increased 1.6 percent in April against a revised 41.4 percent drop in March.
April marked the start of the government's efforts to lift restrictions on social interaction. Dining-in hours at restaurants were extended and gyms and beauty salons were allowed to reopen. The government also started handing out consumption vouchers, which in the past has helped boost retail sales figures.
The retail data covers consumer spending on goods but not services such as catering, medical care and entertainment. Those services account for more than 50 percent of total consumer spending.
There are some signs that consumer activity continued to rebound in May. Foot traffic at shops and restaurants over a recent period showed a reading that was the best since mid-January, Bloomberg Economics said.
Retail visits climbed to within 16 percent of pre-crisis levels in the first 22 days of the month, up from April's 26 percent shortfall and March's 41 percent, it said.
