Hong Kong's exports recorded a 13th consecutive monthly decline in May, dropping by 15.6 percent year-on-year to HK$328 million, falling short of estimates, primarily due to weak demand for goods from China and the global market.
Overseas shipments dropped 15.6 percent from a year earlier, the Census and Statistics Department said yesterday.
It was worse than a median estimate for an 11.1 percent decrease in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
Imports fell 16.7 percent from a year ago, exceeding the median estimate of a 10.2 percent decline, with the trade deficit at HK$26.4 billion.
Exports were weak across the board. Shipments to China fell 17.5 percent in May from the previous year, worse than April's 12.9 percent decline. The world's second-largest economy has faced concerns about its slowing recovery in recent weeks.
Exports to India fell 30.7 percent, while those to the US, Japan and Korea also recorded double-digit drops.
"The rate hikes from Hong Kong's major trade partners have hampered demand," contributing to the decline in exports, said Samuel Tse, economist at DBS Bank Ltd. Another factor is that cargo and flight capacity in Hong Kong are also still lower than pre-pandemic levels, he added.
Looking ahead, a government spokesperson acknowledged that the challenges faced by Hong Kong's exports is due to weakness in advanced economies, but a faster growth of the mainland economy is expected to provide some offset, with the government closely monitoring the situation.
On the other hand, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported that during the first five months of this year, over 200,000 business buyers from 160 countries or regions visited Hong Kong, reaching 60 percent of the pre-pandemic level.
The TDC expressed confidence in achieving a restoration to 70-80 percent by the end of this year and a full return to normalcy by the following year.
