The Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) released the latest figures on retail sales today (July 3).
The value of total retail sales in May 2006, provisionally estimated at $18.6 billion, increased by 5.3 percent over a year earlier.
After netting out the effect of price changes over the same period, the volume of total retail sales increased by 2.0 percent in May 2006 over a year earlier.
The revised estimate of the value of total retail sales in April 2006, at $18.6 billion, increased by 9.5 percent over April 2005, while the volume of total retail sales increased by 7.9 percent.
Taking the first five months of 2006 together, total retail sales increased by 6.6 percent in value or 4.7 percent in volume over the same period a year earlier.
Analysed by type of retail outlet and comparing May 2006 with May 2005, the volume of sales of food, alcoholic drinks and tobacco increased the most, by 9.6 percent. This was followed by sales of miscellaneous consumer durable goods (+9.6 percent in volume); miscellaneous consumer goods (+6.2 percent); commodities in department stores (+5.9 percent); footwear, allied products and other clothing accessories (+4.1 percent); commodities in supermarkets (+3.0 percent); electrical goods and photographic equipment (+2.7 percent); and motor vehicles and parts (+2.1 percent).
On the other hand, the volume of sales of jewellery, watches and clocks, and valuable gifts and of wearing apparel decreased by 14.5 percent and 4.4 percent respectively in May 2006 compared with a year earlier, while the volume of sales of furniture and fixtures also decreased by 2.7 percent.
marketing@alchempro.com
