What: February retail sales in Hong Kong grew 31.3% to HKD 33.1 billion (USD 4.22 billion).

Why it is important: This is the biggest percentage rise in 13 years, a result of economic sentiment improving, visitors returning, and low figures earlier in the year.

As tourists continue to return and private consumption recovers, the retail sector in Hong Kong will continue to benefit.

Tourists’ arrival in Hong Kong in February increased nearly 557 times from the year earlier to 1.46 million, exceeding 1 million visitors for the first time in 3 years. Among visitors, mainland visitors jumped to about 1.1 million in February from 280,525 in January.

Jewellery, watches, clocks, and valuable gift sales, which were mostly to tourists from mainland China before the pandemic, were up 128.6% from 2022.

In volume terms, retail sales increased 26.9% from last year. Sales of clothing, footwear, and accessories in February grew 104.1% on the year after a 15.6% increase in January. On the contrary, online sales were down 4.1% year-on-year in value terms, compared with a 3.4% drop in January.

In January, retail sales increased 6.9% to HKD 36.2 billion and sales volume grew 5.1% in comparison to 2022.

Hong Kong monthly retail sales post biggest growth in 13 years