Retail Sales In Hongkong Slowed Sharply In July, And Clothing Sales Dropped To 3.4%.

The escalation of trade wars between China and the United States and the weakening of Hong Kong dollar against the US dollar have further affected the retail industry. In the past year and a half, Hongkong's strong rebound in retail sales continued to decline.

In the second half of the year, it began to show weakness.

After the Hongkong stock exchange, the Statistics Bureau of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange released the July retail sales figures. The growth rate of 7.8% was much lower than that of the market forecast, which was much lower than the 11.9% increase in June. It also dragged down the cumulative increase in the first 7 months of this year from 13.4% in the first half to 12.6% in June.

In July, the total volume of retail sales in Hongkong increased by 5.9%, which was also far lower than that in June, which was 9.8% lower than that of the market forecast of 7.5%.

In 2018 1-7, the total volume of retail sales in Hongkong increased by 11%.

The recent consumption intention in China and Hong Kong is worrying the market. If the United States adds another $200 billion tariff on Chinese imports, even if Chinese consumers work hard, they must tighten their belts to control expenditure. The recent discussion on consumer demotion is extremely pessimistic.

Sales of jewellery, clocks and precious gifts in July, though still recorded an increase of 16.8%, fell by 40% compared with 27.8% in June, while the summer season is usually the peak season for retail business in Hongkong. Since the mainland travelled to Hongkong for summer vacation with the help of summer vacation, the growth rate of the important indicators of Hongkong's retail and tourism industry in July has also slowed sharply compared with 23.5% in the first half of July.

Sales of drugs and cosmetics, which are also closely related to Hongkong's retail industry, also weakened in July. The 12.7% growth rate dropped by 30% compared with 18.3% in June, and sales increased by 17.5% in the 1-6 months of this year.

Sales increased by 8.6% in July, far below the 15% increase in June.

Sales increased from 5.4% to 3.4%; sales of footwear, related products and other clothing accessories increased by half to 5.5%; optical store sales were only 1/3 in June and nearly 2.3%.

A spokesman for the Hongkong government said that the steady demand for local consumers and visitors to Hong Kong continued to show positive performance in July, despite slower growth.

Looking forward to the future, the good labour market and the continued growth of the tourism industry in Hong Kong should continue to support Hongkong's retail industry in the short term.

However, if the uncertainty of the external environment continues or further aggravate, optimism will be weakened or weakened.

Zheng Weixiong, chairman of Hongkong Retail Management Association, said that the significant deceleration of retail sales in July was partly due to the high base of last year. But it also showed that the Sino US trade war had a serious impact on consumer psychology in July.

He also predicted that the growth rate of retail industry in the second half of this year will gradually weaken, with an overall increase of 6-7%, only half of that in the first half, because the impact of trade war will not disappear for a short time.

The Hongkong Tourism Development Bureau has not released the July tourism data, which is expected to be released on Friday. In 1-6 months, the number of visitors to the mainland surged by 13.4%, accounting for 77.4% of the 30606039 visitors.

The excitement of mainland customers has increased the retail trade in Hongkong for the 18 consecutive month as of July. Since February this year, it has been booming for 5 consecutive months, driven by luxury sales.