Hong Kong retail sales rise 3.4 pct in April

The total retail sales value in Hong Kong in April grew to a provisionally estimated 19.2 billion HK dollars (2.4 billion U.S. dollars), up 3.4 percent from the same month last year, official figures indicated Thursday.

After netting out the effect of price changes, the total retail sales volume rose 2 percent in April, according to data released by the Census and Statistics Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

The revised estimate of the total retail sales value in March grew 4.9 percent to 18.8 billion HK dollars, while the total retail sales volume rose 3.4 percent.

The department said the moderate growth in retail sales volume was partly due to the especially long holiday of adjacent Easter and Ching Ming Festival this year, which might have induced more people to take longer vacations outside Hong Kong.

Also affecting retail business in April was the slow increase in incoming tourists, and the decline in Mainland visitors in particular, said the department.

Source: Xinhua