Retail sales down 44% to $22.7b in February

The sector took a blow from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Retail sales value crashed 44% MoM to $22.7b in February 2020, according to data from the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD). On a YoY basis, it plunged 46.7%, the steepest for a single month on record.

This is attributed to a heavy blow to tourism- and consumption-related activities dealt by COVID-19, according to a government spokesperson.

The department noted that retail sales tended to show greater volatility in the first two months of the year due to the Lunar New Year, when consumer spending in the local market normally attains a seasonal high before the Festival.

The segment that recorded the sharpest decline in sales for January and February was jewellery, watches and clocks, and valuable gifts, which plummeted 58.6% YoY. This is followed by wearing apparel (49.9%) and footwear and other clothing accessories (43.1%).

Also recording declines are electrical goods, medicines and cosmetics, department store commodities, motor vehicles and parts, furniture and fixtures, Chinese drugs and herbs, books, newspapers, stationery and gifts and optical shops, and food, alcoholic drinks and tobacco.

On the other hand, the value of sales of commodities in supermarkets rose 11.1% YoY in the first two months of 2020. This was followed by sales of fuels (6.5%).

The government expects the business environment of retail trade to remain “extremely austere” in the near term, as the COVID-19 pandemic has brought inbound tourism to a standstill and severely dented local consumption demand.