Hong Kong retail sales fell for the sixth straight month in August as a drop-off in tourist arrivals from mainland China and its economic slowdown took a bite out of the luxury goods business. Retail sales slipped 5.4 percent from a year earlier to HK$37.9 billion ($4.89 billion). That followed a revised 2.9 percent fall in July, a 0.4 percent slide in June, 0.1 percent in May, 2.1 percent in April and 2.9 percent in March. In volume terms, August sales slipped 0.2 percent.
"This was in part due to the slowdown in inbound tourism, while the stock market gyrations of late might also have dented consumer sentiment," the government said in a statement, adding that a later mid-Autumn festival this year also pushed back some sales. "Outlook for retail sales is still subject to uncertainties, depending on the performance of inbound tourism and on whether there would be further negative impact from the recent heightened stock market volatility," the government said.