The Pulse of Hong Kong’s Retail Industry: A Statistical Beat
Why are retail sales statistics important?
Business performance of the retail sector, a topical issue, is one of the vital components of Hong Kong's economy. Local retail activity is like the pulse of the city's economy and it reflects the overall robustness and vibrancy of Hong Kong's socio-economic atmosphere to a certain extent. Every purchase you make from local retailers contributes to the total value of retail sales. These statistics are compiled to provide timely insights into the short-term business dynamics of the retail sector and reflect the level and trend of consumer spending on goods sold by local retail businesses, as well as how much they are spending at different types of retail outlets.
The provisional retail sales value in July 2025 was $29.7 billion, recording a further increase of 1.8% compared to July 2024 and showing signs of continual stabilisation in retail sales performance.
Does retail sales value reveal the full story of private consumption expenditure?
The statistical concepts of "retail sales value" and "private consumption expenditure" are somewhat different.
"Retail sales value" measures the sales receipts of local retailers and only covers the sales of goods. The customers are not only confined to Hong Kong residents, but also include non-residents, such as visitors to Hong Kong who spend in local retailers and overseas customers who purchase goods from local retailers through online channels.
"Private consumption expenditure" (a component of Gross Domestic Product) is a statistical indicator specific to Hong Kong residents, measuring their spending for private purposes, regardless of whether it occurs within Hong Kong or abroad. Apart from goods, such expenditure also covers various services such as housing, transportation, dining, and more, and the consumption channels are not limited to retailers. In fact, over half of Hong Kong's private consumption expenditure is service-related spending.
In other words, retail sales value is not a comprehensive indicator of the overall consumer expenditure of Hong Kong residents.
If you want to learn more about the trend of overall consumption expenditure of Hong Kong residents, please refer to private consumption expenditure and its breakdowns.
Is the growth of online sales reflected in Hong Kong's retail sales value?
Retail sales value includes both traditional brick-and-mortar stores and online shopping sales. Thanks to the advancement of technology in recent years, online shopping has become very convenient for consumers by simply clicking "Add to cart". About 8.4% of the retail sales value came from online purchases in 2024, while the value of online sales marked an increase of over 50% as compared to 2020. These figures include online spending on goods sold by local retailers through various online channels to both local and overseas individuals. However, Hong Kong residents' online spending on goods from retailers outside Hong Kong are not included.
How does retail sales value help us understand the business performance of different retail outlets?
To gain a better understanding of the performance of local retail industry, all retail outlets have been grouped into 19 categories, making it easier to gauge the relative performance of different types of retail outlets. We can sometimes see insightful patterns and trends therein. Let's look at the example below.
One might notice the significant fluctuations in the sales of the retail outlet type “Motor vehicles and parts” in recent years, which increased to over $2 billion twice in early 2023 and early 2024 respectively before dropping below $1 billion in early 2025. Apart from the usual volatile traits, such movement was also attributable to the return to normalcy after the epidemic in early 2023 that boosted consumer sentiment, as well as the Government’s reductions of the first registration tax concessions in April 2024 granted under the "One-for-One Replacement Scheme" for electric vehicles which boosted the purchase of new electric vehicles before the adjustments became effective.
Speaking of electric vehicles, we may also have a look at the sales value of the retail outlet type "Fuels". The retail sales of "Fuels" showed a consistent downward trend from a monthly average of around $1 billion in 2022 to somewhat below $0.7 billion in early 2025. This decline may be partly due to the growing popularity of electric cars as an alternative to traditional petrol cars.
Retail sales value is of great value in analysing the pace of economic growth where its movements are affected by a multitude of social phenomena and economic policies alike. As if hunting for treasures, referring to the changes with respect to different outlet types may yield surprising and insightful findings attributable to various intertwined socio-economic factors.
For more related information and the latest monthly retail sales statistics, please visit the subject webpage on "Retail".
TAM Siu-chung, Nathan
Statistician
22 September 2025