Hearty appetite: Local consumer demand continued to lift retail sales in December.

The value of total retail sales in December, provisionally estimated at $16.6 billion, was up 6.7% over a year earlier.

After netting out the effect of price changes over the same period, the overall volume of retail sales increased 5.8% in December over a year earlier.

The revised estimate on the value of total retail sales in November was $14.1 billion. Total retail sales increased 5.2% in both value and volume over a year earlier.

The growth in the volume of retail sales accelerated in December for the third month in a row, giving a notable increase of 5.2% for the fourth quarter of 2003 as a whole over a year earlier. This represented an improvement from the 1.2% increase in Q3.

Local consumer demand continued to revive to lift retail sales. Inbound tourism also provided impetus, underpinned by the sustained surge in Mainland visitors including those coming under the Individual Visit Scheme.

Electrical goods, photo equipment see sharp rise

Analysed by type of retail outlet, sales of electrical goods and photographic equipment increased the most, by 31.6% in volume.

This was followed by sales of:

* furniture and fixtures ( up 19.7% in volume);

* footwear, allied products and other clothing accessories (14.7%);

* miscellaneous consumer goods (8.4%);

* miscellaneous consumer durable goods (7.8%);

* food, alcoholic drinks and tobacco (5.4%);

* jewellery, watches and clocks, and valuable gifts (3.2%);

* wearing apparel (2.5%); and

* commodities in department stores (0.8%).

Sales of motor vehicles and parts decreased 8.1% in volume, while sales of fuels fell 5.4%. Sales of commodities in supermarkets also slipped 1.7% in volume.

Overall volume up, value down

The overall volume of retail sales increased by 3.9% in Q4 2003 compared with the preceding quarter.