作者: Dion Suen

According to the latest data released by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, the Hong Kong’s economy contracted by 3.5% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2020, which was another decline after a fall of 9% year-on-year in the second quarter. Considering the cushioning effect of the Government’s massive relief measures in response to the epidemic, and the economic performance in the first three quarters, the government predicts that the real growth of Hong Kong’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020 will be revised from -6% to -8% as announced in August round of review to -6.1% in the current round.

In addition, Hong Kong’s overall consumer prices fell by 0.7% year-on-year in December 2020, the decrease was larger than the corresponding drop in November 2020 (-0.2%). Considering the inflation rates in Hong Kong’s main import sources will likely to subside further, the Government predicts that Hong Kong’s underlying consumer price inflation will be at 1.3% in 2020, which is lower than the 1.8% in the previous round of review.

Besides, the value of retail sales, in normal terms, decreased in October and November 2020 over the same month last year, which were 8.7% and 4.0% respectively.

For the labor market, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose from 6.3% in September – November 2020 to 6.6% in October – December 2020. The situation remains under significant pressure.

Additionally, merchandise exports increased by 11.7% year-on-year in December after a year-on-year increase of 5.6% in November 2020.

Source: Hong Kong Trade Development Council, Census and Statistics Department, HKSAR