The Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) released the latest figures on retail sales January 31.
The value of total retail sales in December 2007, provisionally estimated at $25.1 billion, increased by 16.8% over a year earlier. After netting out the effect of price changes over the same period, the volume of total retail sales increased by 12.4% in December 2007 over a year earlier.
The revised estimate of the value of total retail sales in November 2007, at $20.3 billion, increased by 19.5% over November 2006, while the volume of total retail sales increased by 15.3%.
Analysed by type of retail outlet and comparing December 2007 with December 2006. This was followed by sales of footwear, allied products and other clothing accessories (+27.3%); jewellery, watches and clocks, and valuable gifts (+15.4%); furniture and fixtures (+13.2%); miscellaneous consumer goods (+13.0%); commodities in department stores (+10.9%); wearing apparel (+10.5%); commodities in supermarkets (+3.0%); and miscellaneous consumer durable goods (+1.5%).
On the other hand, the volume of sales of food, alcoholic drinks and tobacco in December 2007 decreased slightly by 0.6% compared with a year earlier.
Based on the seasonally adjusted series, the volume of total retail sales increased by 3.1% in the fourth quarter of 2007 compared with the preceding quarter.
For 2007 as a whole, total retail sales increased by 12.8% in value or 10.1% in volume over 2006.
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