The Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) of Hong Kong released provisional statistics of retail sales for April today.
The value of total retail sales in April 2005, provisionally estimated at $17.0 billion, increased by 8.5% over a year earlier. After netting out the effect of price changes over the same period, the overall volume of retail sales increased by 7.8% in April 2005 over a year earlier.
The revised estimate of the value of total retail sales in March 2005, at $16.5 billion, increased by 6.2% in value or 5.2% in volume over March 2004.
Taking the first four months of 2005 together, retail sales increased by 8.5% in value or 7.6% in volume over the same period a year earlier.
Analysed by type of retail outlet and comparing April 2005 with April 2004, sales of jewellery, watches and clocks, and valuable gifts increased the most, by 15.5% in volume.
This was followed by sales of motor vehicles and parts (by 11.3% in volume); electrical goods and photographic equipment (10.2%); wearing apparel (9.5%); commodities in supermarkets (8.1%); miscellaneous consumer goods (7.4%); commodities in department stores (7.2%); fuels (4.8%); footwear, allied products and other clothing accessories (4.5%); miscellaneous consumer durable goods (2.4%); furniture and fixtures (1.7%); and food, alcoholic drinks and tobacco (1.1%).
Based on the seasonally adjusted series, the overall volume of retail sales increased by 5.7% in the three months ending April 2005 compared with the preceding three-month period.
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