Hong Kong retail sector can expect ‘low double-digit decline’ in sales this year
- Industry leader Annie Tse says ‘rock bottom’ reached amid impact of staff shortages, operating costs and currency pressures

Annie Tse Yau On-yee, chairwoman of the Hong Kong Retail Management Association, said on Sunday that earlier estimates of modest growth had taken a more pessimistic turn.
“We now have forecasts for the entire year, and we expect it to be a low double-digit decline,” she said.
Figures released by the Census and Statistics Department showed sales in January and February grew 0.9 per cent and 1.9 per cent year on year, respectively, before contracting 7 per cent in March. A further decline of 14.7 per cent was recorded in April, according to provisional numbers.
Although retail sales expanded 16.2 per cent in 2023, some of the growth seen so far was likely to be due to the low base of reference rather than a true sign of recovery, Tse said.
“Even with the growth we have observed, they are just a few percentage points or in the low double digits,” she said.
“They are not large jumps that hold much significance.”