The value of total retail sales in August, provisionally estimated at $29.4 billion, fell 23% compared with the same month last year, the Census & Statistics Department announced today.

After netting out the effect of price changes over the period, the volume of total retail sales decreased 25.3% year-on-year.

The value of sales for jewellery, watches and clocks, and valuable gifts fell 47.4%.

This was followed by sales of food, alcoholic drinks and tobacco (-0.3% in value); commodities in department stores (-29.9%); medicines and cosmetics (-30.0%); electrical goods and other consumer durable goods, not elsewhere classified (-15.4%); wearing apparel (-33.4%); other consumer goods, not elsewhere classified (-20.1%); motor vehicles and parts (-15.6%); books, newspapers, stationery and gifts (-2.5%); furniture and fixtures (-7.4%); footwear, allied products and other clothing accessories (-26.0%); Chinese drugs and herbs (-25.5%); and optical shops (-26.0%).

The value of sales of commodities in supermarkets went up 1.9% for the period followed by sales of fuels which increased 0.4%.

The Government said retail sales further deteriorated and registered the steepest year-on-year decline for a single month on record, even worse than that recorded in September 1998 during the Asian Financial Crisis.

The plunge in August reflected the weak consumer sentiment amid subdued economic conditions, and the severe disruptions to inbound tourism and consumption-related activities caused by the local social incidents.

It added retail sales in the near term would likely remain in the doldrums as the worsened economic outlook and local protests involving violence continue to weigh on consumer sentiment and inbound tourism.

The Government will closely monitor the situation and the implications for the labour market and the economy.