The Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) released the latest figures on retail sales today (March 3).

The value of total retail sales in January 2016, provisionally estimated at $43.6 billion, decreased by 6.5% compared with the same month in 2015. The revised estimate of the value of total retail sales in December 2015 decreased by 8.5% compared with a year earlier.

After netting out the effect of price changes over the same period, the volume of total retail sales in January 2016 decreased by 5.2% compared with a year earlier. The revised estimate of the volume of total retail sales in December 2015 decreased by 6.1% compared with a year earlier.

In interpreting the figures for January, it should be noted that retail sales tend to show greater volatility in the first two months of a year due to the timing of the Lunar New Year. Local consumer spending normally attains a seasonal high before the festival. As the Lunar New Year fell on February 8 this year but on February 19 last year, the year-on-year comparison of the figures for January 2016 with those for January 2015 might have been affected by this factor to a certain extent.

Analysed by broad type of retail outlet in descending order of value of sales and comparing January 2016 with January 2015, and also bearing in mind the effect due to the difference in the timing of the Lunar New Year as mentioned above, the value of sales of jewellery, watches and clocks, and valuable gifts decreased by 16.3%. This was followed by sales of wearing apparel (-4.9% in value); commodities in department stores (-3.6%); medicines and cosmetics (-3.6%); electrical goods and photographic equipment (-19.7%); miscellaneous consumer durable goods (-29.3%); motor vehicles and parts (-10.5%); furniture and fixtures (-0.5%); books, newspapers, stationery and gifts (-9.7%); Chinese drugs and herbs (-0.2%); and optical shops (-6.3%).

On the other hand, the value of sales of commodities in supermarkets increased by 8.0% in January 2016 over a year earlier. This was followed by sales of food, alcoholic drinks and tobacco (+7.2% in value); other consumer goods, not elsewhere classified (+4.4%); footwear, allied products and other clothing accessories (+5.7%); and fuels (+3.9%).

Based on the seasonally adjusted series, the value of total retail sales decreased by 6.4% in the three months ending January 2016 compared with the preceding three-month period, while the volume of total retail sales decreased by 6.5%.