Hong Kong Retail Sales Bounce Back

RAPAPORT... Hong Kong-based retail sales of jewelry and other hard luxury soared in February, but the government remained cautious considering the continued impact of the pandemic."The retail trade will continue to face a difficult business environment in the near term as inbound tourism remains frozen," a government spokesperson said last week. "It is thus pivotal to put the epidemic under control at the soonest possible, so as to create a favorable environment for the revival of cross-boundary tourism activities."Revenue from jewelry, watches, clocks and other valuable gifts more than doubled to HKD 3.32 billion ($426.4 million) during the month from HKD 1.55 billion ($199.2 million) a year before, the municipality's Census and Statistics Department reported. Sales across all retail categories rose 30% to HKD 29.55 billion ($3.8 billion).The improvement reflected a favorable comparison with February 2020, when sales slumped with the onset of the coronavirus outbreak. The Hong Kong luxury retail market ground to a halt that month as Covid-19 and related quarantine rules sapped tourist demand.The recovery was only partial: Hard-luxury sales in February 2021 were still well below the HKD 7.25 billion ($931.8 million) recorded in the same month of 2019, as travel continues to be limited.The timing of the lunar new year - a busy time for retail - also skewed the numbers. The festival occurred on February 12 this year, whereas in 2020 it fell on January 15. As a result, last year's pre-festival shopping was more weighted toward January. Sales in the hard-luxury category for the two months combined climbed 3.2% to HKD 6.69 billion ($860.2 million) this year, with total retail revenues up 2.7% to HKD 62.1 billion ($7.99 billion).Image: Central Hong Kong at night. (Shutterstock)