Hong Kong retail up 6.6% in December as e-commerce, tourism boost sales

Online sales made up 8.8% of the total.

Total retail sales in Hong Kong rose 6.6% year-on-year to a provisional $35b in December 2025, according to the Census and Statistics Department. After adjusting for price changes, sales volume increased 5.1%.

Online sales made up 8.8% of the total and surged 30.9% from a year earlier to $3.1b.

Sales of jewellery, watches, clocks and valuable gifts climbed 14.3%.

Electrical goods and other consumer durable items jumped 58.9%, whilst motor vehicles and parts rose 8.9%.

Books, newspapers, stationery and gifts increased 6.7%, and optical shops grew 5.2%. Smaller gains were recorded in supermarket commodities (+0.3%), food, alcoholic drinks and tobacco (+0.5%), and medicines and cosmetics (+0.6%).

By contrast, wearing apparel sales fell 10.3%. Department store commodities also declined 4.6%, fuels dropped 12.8%, footwear and clothing accessories slid 10%, Chinese drugs and herbs fell 2.1%, and furniture and fixtures were down 7.9%.

For 2025 as a whole, total retail sales reached a provisional $380.5b, up 1% from 2024, whilst online sales rose 12.8% to $35.7b.

The government said retail sales continued to recover in December and expects stronger local consumption and rising visitor numbers to support the sector going forward.