The value of total retail sales in January rose 4% over a year earlier to $19 billion, the Census & Statistics Department says.

After netting out the effect of price changes over the same period, the overall volume of retail sales rose 3%.

The revised estimate of the value of total retail sales in December, at $18 billion, rose 8.8% in value or 7.8% in volume over December 2003.

Analysed by type of retail outlet and comparing January with January 2004, sales of cars and parts rose most, by 26.4% in volume.

This was followed by sales of jewellery, watches and clocks, and valuable gifts (by 18.3% in volume); electrical goods and photographic equipment (14%); miscellaneous consumer goods (5.2%); apparel (5.1%); fuels (4.9%); and miscellaneous consumer durable goods (3.2%).

Furniture, fixtures fall

However, sales of furniture and fixtures fell 14.2% in volume in January, compared with a year earlier.

Commodities in supermarkets and of food, alcohol and tobacco fell 7.3% and 7.1% in volume, while sales of footwear, allied products and other clothing accessories and of commodities in department stores also fell by 3.4% and 2.1% in volume.

Based on the seasonally adjusted series, the overall volume of retail sales rose 1.2% in the three months ending January, as compared to the preceding three-month period.

The Government said moderation in the growth in retail sales volume in January seemed more apparent than real, as the figure is distorted by a distinctly higher base in January 2004 due to festive spending during the Lunar New Year festival that month.

Retail sales of consumer durable items, notably cars, electrical goods and photographic equipment, as well as luxurious items like jewellery and watches, showed strong double-digit growth in January, a reflection of upbeat consumer confidence.