He added that a large number of residents travelled outside Hong Kong during Easter, which resulted in lower consumption not only while they were away, but also on days before and after their trips.

“Besides, the unstable weather in April this year, with higher-than-usual rainfall, also had some impact,” he said.

The spokesman said at this time last year, government consumption vouchers were still being handed out, leading to a “high base of comparison”.

Annie Tse Yau On-yee, chairwoman of the Hong Kong Retail Management Association (HKRMA), said another major reason was the changed spending habits of mainland visitors, who make up the bulk of the city’s tourists.

“We have been saying this for many months … the people who come today aren’t here purely to shop any more, they come for in-depth cultural tours.”

Declines were seen in most categories across the board, but those typically associated with mainland tourist shoppers saw the biggest drops.

Jewellery, watches, clocks and valuable gifts were the worst performers at 28.7 per cent. They were closely followed by electrical goods at 26.5 per cent, footwear and other clothing accessories at 26.3 per cent, and Chinese drugs and herbs at 25.1 per cent.

Sales of car and motor parts, however, went up by 58.5 per cent year on year.

A government spokesman expressed confidence the revival of the city’s tourism and rising employment earnings, as well as the “recent stabilisation of asset markets” would provide support.

But Tse said the retail industry surveys continued to reflect pessimism for May and June, even with the Labour Day “golden week” holiday on the mainland, with around half of businesses saying the gap was “very large” between what they had expected and actual performance.

Less than 20 per cent said they forecast growth in June. Those who did said they only expected single-digit jumps because they would be conducting major promotions.

Tse welcomed recent moves by authorities to expand the individual travel scheme, which has added 10 more mainland cities so far this year, but called for the threshold of duty-free shopping to be raised as well.

“Even with more visitors, it may not be much help to us if the duty-free amount remains the same,” she said.

Tourists from across the border who make purchases in Hong Kong that exceed 5,000 yuan per trip are required to pay a tax of 13 to 50 per cent to the mainland government, a policy that has been in place since 1996.

In contrast, the southern island province of Hainan has a tax-free purchase limit of 100,000 yuan per year.

Tse said most members hoped Hong Kong’s rate could eventually be in line with Hainan.

She also called for the multiple-entry visa scheme to be resumed.

The visa was introduced in 2009 to allow Shenzhen residents to make as many trips as they wanted to Hong Kong within a year. It was scrapped in 2015 amid concerns of parallel trading and the city’s capacity to handle surges in single-day visitors.

In April 2023, the city recorded HK$34.7 billion in retail sales. Total retail sales in March this year stood at HK$31.2 billion, a 6.9 per cent drop compared with the same month in 2023.

“The latest shortfall in retail sales signals that Hong Kong faces persisting problems in household confidence, waning competitiveness and changing tourism spending patterns,” said Gary Ng Cheuk-yan, a senior economist with Natixis Corporate and Investment Bank.

“While the contraction may narrow in the coming months, Hong Kong’s retail sales may fall back into contraction at 5 per cent in 2024.”

He said the government should also focus on quality improvement in policies to “reignite the growth engine”.

“Without economic growth, how can residents feel optimistic with more wealth and spend more?”