Hong Kong: Retail sales speed up in February
Latest reading: Retail sales were up 17.5% on a year-on-year basis in February, following a 3.4% increase in the prior month. February’s reading was the strongest since March 2023, though the large increase was at least partly due to the later-than-usual Lunar New Year celebration.
Relative to the previous month’s data, readings in February improved for fuel (-18.4% in annual terms vs -25.0% in January), supermarkets (+14.3% vs -5.6% in January), food and alcoholic beverages (+17.6% vs -11.3% in January) and clothing and footwear (+18.8% vs +4.2% in January). In contrast, the reading for jewelry, watches and valuables softened in February (+4.4% vs +10.7% in January).