Hong Kong economy plunged into recession in 2019 over protests; shrank 1.2%

Hong Kong on Monday confirmed its economy plunged into recession in 2019 -- the first annual contraction in a decade -- as the city buckled under the twin pressures of the US-China trade war and months of furious pro-democracy protests.

The financial hub's gross domestic product shrank 1.2 percent on-year, official data showed, while the fourth quarter saw a 2.9 percent contraction.