Hong Kong's retail sales by value grew 3.9% year over year to HK$37.5 billion in October, according to the city's Census and Statistics Department.
The growth slowed from the 5.7% year-over-year increase in retail sales value confirmed for September.
Medicines and cosmetics led the growth in October with a 9.9% year-over-year rise in sales value. Across other categories, sales value also grew 8.5% for food, alcoholic drinks and tobacco. The luxury sector, which includes jewelry, watches and clocks, and valuable gifts, saw sales value increase 8.4%. Sales value for fuels also jumped 8.5%.
On the other hand, the sales value of miscellaneous consumer durable goods plunged 18.7% year over year. Sales value also dropped 2.2% for electrical goods and photographic equipment, and 2.4% for books, newspapers, stationery and gifts.
In volume terms, retail sales jumped 3.6% year over year in October, compared to 5.6% growth recorded in September.
Combining the first 10 months, retail sales in Hong Kong increased 1.2% in value and 1.1% in volume over the same period in 2016.
