Hong Kong: Hong Kong’s jewellery and luxury sales rose for the first time in more than two years as tourist numbers increased and consumer sentiment improved.
Sales of jewellery, watches, clocks and valuable gifts climbed 2.3 percent year on year to $1.06 billion (HKD 8.19 billion) in December, according to provisional data from Hong Kong’s Census and Statistics Department. The category had not seen an increase in revenue since September 2014, with every subsequent month recording a decline except October 2016, when sales were flat.
Tourist arrivals to Hong Kong grew 5.4 percent in December, with visitors from mainland China advancing 6.1 percent, according to the Hong Kong Tourist Board.
“Retail sales showed a narrower year-on-year decline in December 2016, partly reflecting the revival in visitor arrivals in that month,” a government spokesperson said. “Meanwhile, the stable labor market conditions continued to help support local consumer sentiment."
Total retail sales across all products fell 2.9 percent in December – the slowest pace of decline during the year, the data showed. Jewellery and other luxury sales slid 17 percent to $9.19 billion in 2016.
“The near-term outlook for the retail sales business will still depend on whether the recent improvement in inbound tourism can gain more traction and the extent to which local consumer sentiment is affected by various external uncertainties,” the spokesperson said.
